


Where The Past Leads Us

by Ro_x_cela



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-04-03 08:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 47,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4094734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ro_x_cela/pseuds/Ro_x_cela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been three years since Oliver stopped Felicity from leaving Starling City with Ray Palmer. They were finally done settling into the Queen mansion together as an engaged couple, prepared to bring home a new adopted member into the family when a young boy, who has lost both his parents appear into their lives. A boy named Connor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Flight 745 to Italy will begin boarding in 10 minute.**

Felicity takes a sip of her coffee and reloads her emails and checks her messages again. She knows it's stupid, after all when she had told Oliver that Ray had asked her to move to Italy with him and that she was actually considering going with him, he kind of just nodded. She would be leaving to live with Ray Palmer in Italy for the next two years and he didn't so much as make a facial expression. Even if it wasn't as a man who loved her, he should have at least showed some emotion as a close friend.

Felicity knew Oliver wasn't one to show his feelings but all he told her to do what she wanted, whatever made her happy. Which she had heard him say before but this time it was different because this time that meant not seeing each other for two years. She wanted to tell him the truth that staying in Starling City with him would make her happy but she didn't think that would change anything. It would only make things harder.

A tap on her shoulder gets her out of her trance. She turns her face to look at Ray who is getting out of his seat. "I'm going to go use the restroom real quick. Be right back."

"What? We have ten minutes Ray! I told you not to drink that huge cup of coffee this morning before leaving," She says. She remembers what happened next, "And then instead of listening to me you just got another one on the way here."

"I'm nerves, that's all." He says.

"What do you possibly have to be nerves about? Or is it the plane ride because I mean you own a helicopter so why are you scared of a plane? It is actually the safest form of transportation you know."

Ray smiles down at her, "I know Felicity, you're always right!" he rolls his eyes and chuckles before beginning to walk away.

"Hurry up!" She tells him but by then he is already too far away to hear her. She keeps staring at him as he walks and notices that he keeps looking around as if trying to find someone else. He takes out his phone but before Felicity can see what happens next he turns into a corner. She turns back in her seat and takes another sip of her coffee. She decides to put her tablet away for good inside her purse. It's too late Smoak.

She takes her phone out and decides to play a round of Trivia Crack. She taps the wheel and it begins to spin. Felicity is disappointed when it lands on sports. She exhales deeply as the question appears.

**Who were the 2009 Super Bowl Champions?**

Felicity goes through the choices but doesn't know the right one. She never grew up around people who watched sports.

"The Steelers."

Felicity was so busy looking at her phone that she didn't realize someone had sat down in the seat next to her.

She clicks on the answer she is told and it is correct. She puts her phone away with a smile and turns to him. "That really was quick. Did you run or something? I didn't know you were into-"

Before she can finish her sentence she realizes that it isn't Ray sitting next to her but Oliver. She is so shocked that she spills her coffee and it falls all over her lap.

"Frack." Is all that manages to escape her lips.

Everyone stares but Oliver doesn't seem to notice and something that resembles a smile appears on his face. As she quickly gets up out of her seat she looks down at him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were Ray. You scared me! I mean, I know you're good at being sneaky and being silent but you shouldn.t just creep up on people like that! Good, non-villain people!"

"I actually don't know much about sports, at least not since the island. Tommy told me that when I first got back." He gets up and stands in front of her.

"Oliver, seriously what are you doing here? Did I forget something?" Suddenly a sense of panic begins to form inside of her chest. "Did something happen?"

Oliver seems to notice her panic and puts his hand on her shoulder, something that always seems to make the worry a little less.

"Felicity," he says her name, putting an emphasis on each and every syllable. "Everything is fine. Nothing bad happened."

"Good." She finally stops freaking out and looks at him. "Why are you here than?"

He takes his hand off of her shoulder and awkwardly places it behind his neck. "Because…I came here to ask you not to leave."

"What?" She manages to say. Her heart is beginning to race fast again.

"I love you, Felicity. I know you would be happier with Ray because you two are literally the same person. I even think you could be related but-"

"Ray!" She had forgotten. He should be back any minute. "Oliver, you need to leave." She tries to ignore the pain forming in her chest as the words leave her mouth. She had already made her choice. Ray loves her. He wants to form a life with her even if he is a hero.

"Felicity I-" before he can get another word in she decides that she can't do it. She can't risk him changing her mind. It was hard enough as it was. She didn't need him making it harder.

"No, Oliver. Don't say anything! We already said our goodbyes and you told me to do what makes me happy, remember? This is what will make me happy. Ray…he wants a life with me."

"I want a life with you Felicity! I've always wanted a life with you. I just...before I didn't think I could be The Arrow and be Oliver Queen at the same time. Now I know I can be."

She doesn't know what to say, she can't even think right now. A part of her wishes Ray was here just so he could force Oliver to leave but that would be wrong.

"You have the absolute worst timing in the universe," She says, tears forming in her eyes. "Always late, Mr. Queen."

Oliver is about to open his mouth when suddenly Ray appears behind Felicity. She can sense his presence behind her and she quickly wipes her wet eyes before a tear can fall and she turns around to face him.

Ray's facial reaction become concerned once he notices the way Felicity looks.

"Are you okay? This wasn't the reaction I was expecting," he says.

"What?" She asks. What was he expecting?

"Frankly I was hoping you wouldn't be here when I got back…makes things easier…" he adds quietly, as if speaking more to himself than with Felicity, completely ignoring her question.

"What do you mean "'wasn't the reaction I was expecting?'" Did you know he was coming?" Felicity takes a step closer. She can hear Oliver say her name but that doesn't stop her.

"Of course I did. I am the one who called him after all."

Felicity freezes. Is that why he kept looking around, like he was trying to find someone? He was looking for Oliver? And when he took his phone out of his pocket it was to call Oliver?

"Ray, why would you do that?"

"Actually, whether I called him or not wouldn't have mattered," he says looking past her to Oliver, "He was already on his way here when I called him. I figured I could at least call him and say I tried to change his mind."

"What's going on? What are you doing?" Felicity asked, already knowing something not so good was about to happen.

He took a step closer to her to that their bodies were only inches away. He grabbed both her hands and tangled their fingers together, forgetting that Oliver was standing right behind them.

"After Anna, I never thought I would find someone I could fall in love with again but then I met you. I love you, which is exactly why I need to let you go."

"Ray…" She begins to interrupt but no words come out. She wipes away the tears in her eyes.

"I knew but I didn't want to think about it so I pushed it to the back of my head because I didn't want to lose you. I knew you were in love with Oliver and I realized that I couldn't really lose you because I never really had you to begin with. I knew you were going with me because you wanted to take the easy way out."

"That's not true," she protests although it is, but not completely. "I'm going with you because I love you and want to have a life with you."

He places his hand on her cheek and slowly wipes away the tear. "I know you do…but not in the way you love him."

Ray looks away for a few seconds trying to compose himself, thinking. He turns to her and smiles but it is a sad smile. "Felicity Smoak, you are a wonderful woman, smart, and gorgeous, someone who deserves more than anything to be happy. I am more than willing to let you go if it means you'll be happy, even if it isn't by my side."

**Flight 745 will begin boarding at this moment.**

Ray smiles and cups Felicity's cheeks. "I'm going now. I can't force you to do something you don't want to. So, if you want to go with me great. If you want to stay here with Oliver than that is fine too. No matter what, I wish you a lifetime of happiness Felicity." And like that he kisses her forehead, nods his head at Oliver, and begins boarding the plane.

Felicity can feel Oliver right behind her but she waits until she can no longer see Ray before turning around to face him. He seems tired and anxious.

She stares at him and laughs but it doesn't come out right, it comes out too soft and broken. She exhales deeply, "I have wanted to be with you for a really long time, but ever since our date, you've been doing nothing but pushing me away. You practically pushed me into another man's arms, a man who does want a life with me, who wants to be happy, who is waiting for me. I deserve someone who wants to be happy Oliver…do you want to be happy?"

She stares at him waiting but he only stares back. She exhales loudly and begins to gather her items and begins to walk away.

"For the longest time, I didn't think I deserved to be happy."

She turns around, "What?"

He walks over to her, his eyes looking broken and defeated. "Not since the island, not after everything I had to do to survive. Tommy once told me that if I'm alone I would never be happy but I was never bothered by it until I realized that instead of being alone I could be with you. Even now I'm not sure I deserve to be happy but I am sure of one thing. I love you and I want to be with you. I want to be happy…with you."

She never thought this would happen, not in a life time. This morning she woke up sure of what she was going to do, sure that she would get on a plane to Italy with another man. Now she knew nothing except for one thing. Whatever happens, where ever she goes, she knows she wants it to be with him by her side. She grabs her carry on and he stands still, a worried expression resting on his face, uncertain of her choice. She looks up at him and smiles, a real smile. This is what she has been waiting for.

"Let's go home," she finally says.

Before Felicity can even register what is going on, her feet are off the floor and she is secured tightly around Oliver's arms, in a bear hug. "I love you Mrs. Smoak," he whispers. She can feel a smile form on his face.

Suddenly the place around them is filled with clapping and people whistling. Felicity can't help but smile even harder than she already was, she also can't help but blush. They are the center of attention.

"I love you too Mr. Queen," she whispers in his ear before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. She knew this was only the beginning of their long road ahead together but that only made her even happier.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just to clarify (since I forgot to add it) the previous chapter was somewhat of prologue/flashback. This chapter is where it really starts! Thank you for taking the time to read this!(:**

 

Oliver slowly begins to wake up and as he normally does, he goes to wrap his arm around his fiancés waist. _Fiancé_ , that had a nice ring to it. He would never get tired of calling her that. Well, at least not until he could call her his wife. It had only been a month since he proposed and it has only been a week since they had moved back into the Queen Mansion, which Oliver had bought back. A few weeks after Ray had left, Oliver had gotten his company back and a few hours later he got a call from Ray. He made it a good point that since he and Felicity had broken up he had no real reason to come back to Starling City. In return, he only demanded that Felicity remain Vice President to which Oliver accepted without hesitation although he didn't have to be told.

As he moves his arm it lands quickly on the mattress itself instead of on Felicity's waist where it normally does. He pats the area a few times to make sure it isn't some kind of dream and after a few seconds he quickly opens his eyes. The space next to him is indeed empty.

"Nope, not a dream," he says quietly to himself, still half asleep.

After lying comfortably in bed for a few more extra minutes Oliver sits up in bed and runs his fingers through his hair. After a minute or two he finally gets up, not bothering to put on pants. It was an early Saturday morning and they hadn't yet hired any maids. They hadn't had time. It was only yesterday night that they had unpacked the last of their things.

Felicity had told Oliver multiple times she didn't care whether they had maids or not, she only asked that he hire a chief. She had told him she didn't want to be responsible for his death by food poisoning. But with the new member of their family coming soon he knew they weren't going to be able to manage without a few maids or at least a nanny, not if they're both president and vice president of a huge company.

Oliver slowly makes his way through the house and down the stairs toward the kitchen, taking in all the memory's this house held. The good and the bad, everything he had to go through to end up back here, home, and with the love of his life.

As he reaches the kitchen door he can hear the sound of music playing. A huge grin appears on his face when he opens the door and sees Felicity dancing to the sound of music while mixing a small bowl of pancake mix, her back facing him. Without saying a word he quietly makes his way to a chair behind the kitchen island. He sits there just staring at her, taking in her movements, taking _her_ in.

As Felicity continues to dance she finally does a spin on one leg and stops right in front of Oliver, on the opposite side of the kitchen island. She is so surprised by his sudden and unheard appearance that she yelps and almost drops the bowl. She quickly covers her mouth. "Did I just yelp? I've never yelped before." She takes a few second to get her breathing back to normal before looking angrily at Oliver who is now chuckling.

"What did I say about creeping up on people Oliver?"

Oliver shrugs innocently.

"I mean nice caring people," she says. "Your fiancé, for example," she adds.

She leans forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. "You shouldn't try to scare the only woman willing to marry you," she jokes, knowing there are a billion women who would kill to be in her position.

"You're cute," he says in a sarcastic tone, although he really does mean it.

She winks. "So I've been told."

Felicity picks up the bowl and begins mixing once again, turning her body around to face the stove. It is at this exact moment that Oliver realizes that she is wearing his white dress shirt that he had on last night, the same one that she had so eagerly taken off of him after they had gotten done unpacking.

"I'm making pancakes, do you want some?" she asks without turning around to look at him. "Since they are the only things I can make after all," She adds, saying it mostly to herself than Oliver.

Oliver gets out of his seat and sneaks up behind her. He wraps his arms around her waist and she leans into his touch.

"Give me the parts and I can build you a computer but give me the ingredients and a recipe book and I will totally mess it up." She sighs.

He slightly leans down so that his lips are only centimeters away from her ear. "Well…if it's you making them than of course," He says.

Felicity didn't think anyone had the ability to make even the most innocent sentence sound so sexy but she was wrong, Oliver definitely did. She smiles up at him and he leans down to kiss her, which then turns into a make out session.

"Felicity," he says as he leans away from their kiss long seconds later.

"Yeah?" she asks, her eyes still closed and her lips still puckered up.

Oliver chuckles. "Felicity…the pancake. It's burning, you know."

She quickly opens her eyes and turns to the stove. She quickly lefts up the pan off the stove and turns it off. She stares at the pan in her hand. The top of the pancake is a perfect golden brown but it is obvious the bottom got burnt from the smell. Felicity turns around toward the trash can.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asks, standing between her and the trashcan.

"Oliver move! I'm throwing it away. It's burnt thanks to you and your distraction," she points out.

Oliver goes for the plate on the counter and places the pancake on it.

"What are you doing? Are you going to eat that!?" She puts the pan back down.

"Felicity, it's only one side," he says as he walks with the plate in his hand over to a large cup that contained their spoons and forks.

"Besides, are you forgetting that I was stranded on a deserted island? Trust me, a burnt pancake would have been like a Thanksgiving feast back then, _especially_ if you were the one who made it."

Felicity blush, although they had been officially dating for three years and were even engaged, she could never get used to the small and sometimes random complement Oliver gave her. Oliver kisses her on the forehead before grabbing the syrup bottle and walking over to sit down at the kitchen table. Once he sits down, Oliver realizes that there is an already made stack of perfectly made pancakes sitting in the middle. Felicity also grabs a plate and sits across from him. She grabs two pancakes and begins to eat after she pours a huge mountain of syrup on them.

He can't help but stare at her in amusement. Felicity notices and shrugs. "What? I like me some syrup." She smiles.

It is silent for the first few minutes after that, but it's not awkward. It's actually quite peaceful and calming. This is the most stable Oliver's life has been in a really, _really_ long time. Even before the island Oliver's life was unstable and full of uncertainty. He did things in which normal people would have been sent to jail for a long time for, but Oliver Queen wasn't normal, even in his youth. His name and family fortune bailed him out of multiple problems, and it was thanks to this blond in front of him that his life really had changed, for the better, making him a better person in the process. For the first time in his life, Oliver had certainty, for the first time in his life he knew what he really wanted…

"What's wrong?"

He is shaken out of his trance. "What?"

Felicity looks at him, a concerned gaze staring back at him. "You suddenly stopped eating and began staring at me for like a full two minutes. I can't eat my pancakes comfortably when you stare so intensely at me Oliver. What's wrong?"

Oliver does realize that he somehow managed to move his eyes away from his plate and onto her without noticing. It was just a habit of his. No matter what he was staring at, his eyes would always go back to Felicity if she was within sight.

"Nothing," he finally says. "It's just that I love you very much."

Felicity smiles and takes the last bite of her pancake. "Trust me, I know," she chuckles. "You wouldn't stop telling me that all last night, even before the frickle frackling began," she says, emphasizing the last few words.

raises his brow, both amusement and disprovable in his gaze. "Felicity…stop."

She laughs and gets up with her plate in her hand, making sure to pat his shoulder on her way over to the kitchen sink. She begins washing all the silverware used last night while having Chinese takeout. Oliver quickly finishes his pancake and decides he's done. He stands next to Felicity and help her.

"Thanks," she smiles up at him.

"You don't have to thank me Felicity. It is _our_ house after all."

"I knew I made the right decision staying with you Mr. Queen," she says nudging his shoulder with hers playfully.

"Glad to know that the only reason you think that is because of this specific moment," he says dryly, remembering that night at the airport.

She notices his sudden change in mood. She turns off the water and takes the plate he had in his hand and sets it down. He stares at her as she dries her hands and slowly places both of them on either side of his cheeks.

"Hey," she says quietly, almost a whisper. "I was only kidding."

He watches her closely and leans into her touch. "I know but…I just…I don't want to remember that day ever again. It was too close."

"Too close?" She asks confused.

"I almost lost you. If I had waited only a few more minutes…It would have been too late and I wouldn't be here right now, finishing breakfast with you, washing the dishes with you, standing in front of you at this very moment. You would be gone."

"Well, _actually_ , it would have only been a two year thing so I would have already been back by now," she says trying to lighten the mood.

Oliver appreciated it but now wasn't the time, "Felicity–"

"Now isn't the time," she finishes for him. "I know. I know. Sorry!"

"I just don't want to ever feel like that again…like I might lose you. I don't ever want to come close to that feeling again. It's worse than any other pain I've ever felt, on the island, and as the Arrow."

She thinks for a minute gathering all of her thoughts and Oliver only stares at her. God, he could just stare at her for an entire lifetime. There was just something about her, he knew it from the moment he saw her that day he first came back to Starling City, before he was "rescued" from the island. Back when he had to go into QC to get information and he saw her for the first time walk into what was still his dads office. She was talking to herself about him. It was the first time since his father had killed himself on the life raft that he had truly smiled, and it was all because of her.

"Oliver, are you even listening to me?" She asks waving one of her hands in front of his face.

He snaps back to reality. "Sorry, I was just…go on," he tells her, not wanting to explain what he was thinking.

She looks at him oddly but opens her mouth to begin talking again. " _Anyway_ , as I was saying…you'll never lose me. You realized what you wanted out of life just in time to find me, so you're not going to lose me, or ever come close to losing me again. We have a serious commitment, I mean we're even getting ready to adopt a little baby girl for heaven's sake, I mean if she likes us anyway, it's a two week trial bases but I mean–"

"Fe-li-ci-ty." He warned, although he said her name just because he loved saying her name like that.

"Right. Sorry!" She says once again. She exhales deeply and smiles. "The point is…you and me-" She points at him and then back at herself. "-Well, it's forever. I want to marry you and have children with you. I want to get old, fragile, and bitter alongside you. I want to die at a hundred in your arms while we're sleeping. I want a life time with you Oliver, you're stuck with me."

She caresses his cheek and gets on her tippy toes to kiss him softly, lovingly.

"Felicity, I don't think there's a force in this universe that could ever make you a bitter person."

She smiles at him as she lets him go to finish drying the dishes. His smile fades as he loses her touch but as he stand next to her, watching all her little movements, the smile appears on his face again. This _will_ be forever. They _will_ spend the rest of their life together.

 

**So what did you guys think? Please leave me some comments on your thoughts. I would very much appreciate it. I hope you all have a nice week!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Would you guys be creeped out if I told you the reason I chose to do the whole adoption thing rather than make Felicity pregnant was because that is how it was in an Olicity dream I had a few months back? That dream is actually where I got the idea for this fanfic. So don't worry, they can totally have kids of their own, they just chose adoption. Hope that clarifies things!**

 

After they had finished up with the few dishes they had left, they had gone back upstairs without hesitation to watch some TV and to repeat last night, once or twice. It was only a few minutes later, when they were both lying on their backs panting that Oliver got a call on his cellphone. Oliver looked around but saw it on the floor. He was not in the mood to get out of bed.

"You should…probably answer…that," Felicity said in between deep intakes of breath.

"It's probably the company…I don't want to go. They can wait."

Felicity was a little disappointed and embarrassed at realizing that Oliver wasn't nearly as out of breath as her. Her disappointment only grew when she realized he was Oliver Queen after all, playboy, and sex magnet since teenage years. He's probably had someone rock his world multiple times before the island.

About a minute after his phone stops ringing, hers starts to. The sound of her cellphone vibrating on the bedside table takes her out of her thoughts. Hesitantly, she leans over and grabs her phone. She looks at her phone screen and then back at Oliver, who hasn't taken his eyes off of her this whole time.

"Not QC. It's your best friend, John," She informs him, trying to make him feel bad for being lazy.

She takes a second to try and catch most of her breath before picking up and falling back into bed.

"Yes?"

" _Felicity?"_ He asks confused.

"Yes John?"

" _Are you alright?"_ She can hear the worry in his voice.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"As soon as it comes out of her mouth Felicity silently scolds herself.  _Wrong question Smoak._

" _You're panting. Also, I called Oliver and he didn't answer the phone. Is everything okay? Is Oliver okay?"_

Using his heightened senses, Oliver hears his name and scoots his body over closer to Felicity so that their heads are touching.

"Yes. Oliver is fine," She says in a semi normal way, finally beginning to breathe normally again.

"For how much long? I have no idea!" She adds, as she tries to push Oliver's face away, trying not to laugh. He tries to bite her hand and it only makes her swat at him even more.

" _Oh, I get it,"_ John finally says.

"Get what?" She asks

" _Nothing, just that you guys are consummating your engagement for like the 5_ _th_ _time today."_

She can practically see a smile forming from where she lay.  _"_ That's not – we weren't –"

" _Hey, it's alright, you don't need to explain yourself to me. I'm not judging. Trust me, I've been there, twice,"_ he interrupts.  _"Just tell me if I need to start making appointments or if we need to make a schedule so I don't interrupt anything."_

She groans in embarrassment,"What do you want John?"

" _I was calling to see if you and Oliver would like to join the rest of us for a nice family dinner at our place, but I see now that maybe it was best that you didn't answer."_

"Why? So you could catch us in the act?" She laughs. "Because don't play dumb with me John Diggle. The second I didn't answer my phone, you would have been here in less than ten minutes."

She can hear John's weak attempt at holding back a laugh. " _Touché."_

She quickly gets out of bed and puts on her underwear, with cellphone safely secured between her ears and right shoulder.

"You're damn right touché,"she says victoriously, as she walks to a chair that has her robe placed on it.

She can still feel Oliver's eyes completely on her as she raps her almost naked body in her robe and ties it. She sticks her tongue out at him as she puts on her slippers before walking out of the room and quietly shutting the door behind her.

He sighs, " _…I guess that sometimes I forget that we don't live dangerous lives anymore."_

Suddenly the atmosphere around her becomes heavy.  _"_ Yeah…I know what you mean. Sometimes it's hard to believe that things can be so good after everything we've done and been through in the last six years."

" _Yeah,"_  he breathes.

There was a peaceful silence between them. There was nothing to be sad about. Sure, their life as Team Arrow was over, but they were still a team, a family. The only difference was that her and Oliver would be getting married in a few months, Roy and Thea were finally officially a couple again, and Laurel was well, Laurel Lance-Grant.

" _Felicity? You still there?"_ She hears.

She turns around, uncertain of whom it was. It is only when she hears her name again that her brain registers it in her head as John's voice. She takes her phone away from her ear to make sure he is still there.

"Uh…yeah…yeah! Sorry!" She finally says, shaking her head although she knew he couldn't see her.

" _I couldn't even hear you breathe. I was starting to get worried."_

She takes a moment to think of something.  _"_ Who is the rest of us?"She finally asks, in a more cheerful voice, trying to lighten up the mood.

" _The normal. Roy, Thea, you, and Oliver."_

"What about Laurel?"  She asks.

She finally reaches the staircase and stops a few feet away to lean on the wooden railing.

" _I called her and she said she was still in Hawaii."_

"Still? Weren't they supposed to be back like last week?"

" _Love. Can't get enough. You should know that better than anyone at the moment."_

"Shut up!"She says, but it doesn't come out seriously. "What time do you want us to be there? Need us to bring anything?"

Suddenly she feels Oliver behind her. He wraps his arms around her in a tight hug. She was beginning to get worried at the fact of how easily it was for Oliver to sneak up on her. Either he was getting better at it or she had let her guard down more than usual, although she hadn't had a reason to be overly careful in a long time, which she was completely happy with.

She puts her cellphone on speaker so Oliver can join in.

" _Be there at seven, and no, you don't have to bring anything."_ He pauses for a second.  _"Having said that, Lyla loves red wine."_

As she opens her mouth to speak Oliver speaks up. "Hey John! What's going on?" He asks loudly so he can hear him.

" _Oliver,"_ he acknowledges. " _I have to go. Felicity can fill you in later. You two…you two enjoy the rest of your day. Just don't be late."_

"Oh we certainly will," She says cheerfully. It is only when she feels Oliver chuckling on her shoulder that she realizes what she had accidently implied.

"No! Wait! I meant we will enjoy the rest of our day but not like that– not doing that but –"

A small laugh and a  _"Goodbye, Felicity,"_  is all she hears before John hangs up.

Felicity covers her face in embarrassment. "Oliver, if you know I'm going to say something stupid, please stop me next time!"

"Why would I do that? Your rambling and saying inappropriate things is one of the things I love the most about you," he says as he begins to kiss her neck.

"Oh." Is all that comes out of her mouth as she feels Oliver soft lips make a trail of up her neck.

She tries not to giggle as she feels his scruff at every kiss. "Oliver, stop! It tickles!"

Oliver only laughs and spins her around to kiss her on the mouth.

"We need to go buy some red wine and be at Johns by seven," she says after their lips leave one another's.

"What for?"

"Just a normal get together, some dinner, a little catching up. We haven't done that in a while so it will be fun, don't you think?"

"It has been awhile hasn't it?" He states more than ask, a frown forming on his face.

Felicity bites her bottom lip as she tries to remember. "I'm pretty sure the last time we all got together was when we announced our engagement, so it's been about a month. But Laurel isn't going to be there. Her and Ted are still on their honeymoon."

"Still?" Oliver asked surprised.

Felicity nods in agreement with his surprise.

"Maybe we should make our honeymoon two weeks."

Felicity smiles and kisses him. "We still haven't even decided where we are going yet Oliver," she reminds him. "Besides we can't just leave Mia with everyone else for two weeks. She will be  _our_  child by then, hopefully," She says.

"She will be Felicity." He says, kissing her.

"And we'll be the best parents ever?" she asks, kissing him back.

"You'll be the best mom ever," He states.

"And you'll be the best dad ever, and we'll be happy."

"And we'll be happy," he repeats softly as he kisses her on the forehead before embracing her tightly.

After a minute or so passes she sighs and looks up at him, remembering what she had to tell him.

"I need to go to QC and deal with a thing," She informs him.

"What thing?" he asks.

She sighs in annoyance. "The board has been looking for someone else to lead our new Smartpen project since I told them I wouldn't have time. While you were in the restroom Jerry called me and told me they had set up an appointment for me to meet one of the candidates."

Oliver smiles at her funnily, "So you're technically going to interview someone?"

"Yes…why that face?" She asks.

Oliver scratches the back of his head while trying to hold back a smile.

"Oliver, what is it? Why is that funny?" Felicity asks.

"Nothing," he finally says. "It's just that you're too nice. No way won't the person applying for the position get the job."

"What?" Felicity asks feeling a little insulted. "That is  _not_  true! When it comes to my babies I play no games Mr. Queen." She raises an eyebrow at him and gives him a very serious look, " _No games._ "

"Wow," he says. "I wish you'd express that much love and conviction towards me."

Felicity laughs. "Jealous?"

"Of your  _inanimate_  babies?" Oliver raises his eyebrow. "I don't think so."

Felicity takes a few steps closer so that she is right in front of him. She moves her mouth next to his ear and kisses it. "Are you sure? Because if it wasn't for the fact that I have to be at QC in thirty minutes I would show you how much more I love you instead." She whispered, smirking knowing what she was doing to him.

She moves back but before she can get far Oliver picks her up bride style and quickly kisses her on the lips. "I think they can wait a few more minutes, don't you?" He asks leading her into the bed room.

She laughs, "Oh I agree." She rests her head on his chest. This was home for her, in his arms.

 

**I know this chapter was maybe not so interesting, so I apologize, but I felt as though it needed to be done to get more background information on everyone's lives now. Next chapter will be more interesting, I promise, or at least I hope you guys think so. Please give me your you so much for taking the time to read!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! So this chapter might be a little confusing with all the flashbacks but I hope you all still understand and enjoy it! I really appreciate everyone who is taking the time to read this, favor it, follow, and review. Not half bad for my first fanfic right?(:**

 

Despite Oliver's distractions, Felicity had managed to arrive at Queen Consolidated on time. She had been patiently sitting in the conference room, glancing up at the clock every few minutes. Although she had arrived on time, the person she was supposed to interview had not. She heard the sound of the elevator doors opening but she continued to look at the folder she was given. It held information of the person she was supposed to interview. For the first time since she had arrived ten minutes ago, she look inside. On the top left corner was a picture of a young man, slim, and kind of goofy looking but in an adorable kinda way.

She hears the sound of shoes sliding against the floor quickly and she looks up through the glass walls just in time to see him trip and slam on the floor, his briefcase opening, sending all the papers inside scattering all around him. Felicity quickly sets the open folder down and gets up and opens the door to help him as he slowly looks up at her. Felicity gulps as she finally sees his face. This was not the man that was in the picture. The man on the ground in front of her was not 'goofy looking in an adorable kinda way' or slim. Instead, he was quite handsome and Felicity could see that under his suite was more muscle then was shown in the picture she was given.

The guy gets up quickly after he sees her. He stretches over to pick up all the papers. He's up and standing in front of her before she can even move.

He extends his hand out to her, "Hello, I'm Henry McClain, MIT class of '06. I'm here for the head position of your Smartpen project," he says, a crooked smile appearing on his face.

"Frack," Felicity whispered under her breath. Oliver was not going to like this one bit.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked leaning in closer to hear her.

Felicity shakes her head to get out of her trance. "Oh nothing, was just talking to myself. I'm weird like that…" she laughs nervously.

He chuckles, "Well in that case," he says softly. "I guess I'm weird like that too."

Felicity doesn't know what to say and so she just stares back at him, awkwardly. They just stand in front of each other in silence.

He looks around clearly uncomfortable with the silence and Felicity finally reacts. "Uh…would you like to sit down?" She finally asks.

"Sure, that would be nice," he says.

She nods in understanding and opens the door some more so he can get in. He walks in and Felicity lets the door go and close on its own. He walks over to the conference table and picks up the open folder with his profile on it. He stares at it and a smile appears on his face as he takes out the picture of himself.

He turns to Felicity who was still standing near the door. "This picture was taken about two years ago when I was first starting off at Grant's United."

Felicity walks over and sits down in her chair and he quickly follows and sits down, picture still in hand. Felicity takes the folder from him and scoots in closer to the table.

"Let's get started Mr. McClain," she says in a formal tone.

"Please, call me Henry," He states as he places his briefcase on the table in front of him.

He smiles at her and she smiles back. "Right…well then, let's get started Henry."

 

**~ Two hours earlier, in Central City~**

One minute he was sitting down watching cartoons and the next he was running inside the hospital with Charlotte clutching his hand tightly. Without her realizing, he had escaped her grip as she stopped to talk to a nurse. He looked around at all the hurt people, some more than others. He turned a corner and arrived just in time to watch as they cut her shirt open and placed two weird things on her chest. He watched as her body moved every time they placed them on her chest and one of the people in a blue outfit yells "Charge!" But her eyes still wouldn't open. There was blood on her face and arms. Before he could ask them anything, they saw and pushed him away. The lady that saw him closed the door and shut the blinds. Charlotte finally found him and held him tightly. "Sandra is going to be fine...your mom is going to be fine Connor, okay?"

He could hear her words but he could also hear their lack of certainty. What were they doing to his mom?

…

They had been sitting down waiting to hear any news for almost an hour now. Connor was just sitting down leaning on his hand, staring at the door in which the door had walked in.

Charlotte finally turned to him. "Is there anything you want? Some water or a snack? They have a cafeteria here if–"

"I just want my mom," Connor interrupted without hesitation.

He hadn't shed a single tear since they had arrived. Even when he saw his mother like that…all bruised and bloody. Charlotte believed it was because he was too young to understand the depth of the situation. He had cried when his mother dropped him off at her house and refused to take him with her, even after had begged and begged. What he didn't understand was that she really had no other choice. The three of them, Sandra, Adam, and herself, had a plan. Everything was fine until she got the call. Sandra and Adam had been in a car accident, but Charlotte knew better than that. Sandra had warned Charlotte that something could happen. She just refused to believe that anything bad  _would_  happen to her best friend.

She remembered the conversation they had only a few hours earlier. It kept playing over and over in her head as she sat there, waiting to hear Sandra's fate.

 

**(Flashback: Charlottes Apartment)**

Conner had finally fallen asleep and Adam was outside putting the luggage in the car. Sandra was saying goodbye and neither of them could help but get teary-eyed, realizing this could very well be the last time they saw each other in a really long time.

"I appreciate everything you're doing for us, for Conner."

"Don't even mention it. Adam and you have always been there for me when I needed it. You two…" Charlotte looked back at the sleeping Conner, "You three have been the closest thing I've had to family since I lost mine."

Sandra smiled at her but then realized she still had something to give her. She quickly reached inside her purse and took out a white envelope. She handed it over to her and Charlotte looked at it and then back at Sandra curiously.

"If anything happens to us –"

"It won't," Charlotte interrupted.

Sandra's sad expression turned into a serious one. "If anything happens to us, read this letter to Connor. Make sure you remind him how much we loved him."

"Nothing is going to happen Sandy. Adam came up with a concrete plan. You'll see Connor in a few weeks. Everything will turn out fine. By the end of this month, the three of you will be somewhere far away, safe and sound."

Sandra made a week attempt at a smile, trying not to worry her friend more than she already was. "Just do it, please."

Before Charlotte could answer, she reached into her purse once again but this time took out two envelopes instead, one of which had her name written in dark blue ink. She handed Charlotte the one with her name on it first. "Take this one. If in two days you don't hear from either of us, read it and follow the instructions word for word."

She handed her the other one, the name "Ollie" written on it.

"Who's this for?" Charlotte asked taking it and placing it over hers.

"Connors real father," She said nervously.

"What?" Charlotte asked completely shocked. "Adam isn't –"

Before Charlotte could finish her sentence they heard Adam honk.

"I have to go." Sandra walked over to the couch where a sleeping Connor laid. She whispered a few words to him before kissing him on the forehead, a tear landing on it.

She walked back over to Charlotte, who was waiting by the door.

"I don't have time to explain anything. I'm sorry, but once you read the letter it will come together. I love you Charlotte. Goodbye."

They hugged. "I don't like goodbyes, remember?" Charlotte said, finally beginning to get chocked up.

For the first time all day, Sandra had chuckled as they let go of each other. "Right, I meant see you later."

Sandra walked out of the door. Charlotte watched as she turned the corner in her apartment and she took one last glance back and smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. She closed the door and leaned against it. She looked at the top envelope, left wondering who Ollie was.

**(End of Flashback)**

 

As soon as Charlotte saw the doctor walking through the door toward them she quickly got up. she turns back at Connor but the boy has already fallen asleep.

The doctor put his hand on Charlotte's back, "Do you mind if we talk over here?" He asked pointing away from Connor. Charlotte nodded.

"How is she?" Charlotte asked.

The doctor didn't answer. Instead he just stared at her, stared at her with that sympathetic gaze that you only get when someone is dying or is already dead. He slowly takes off his cap and places his hands together in front of him. In that moment Charlotte doesn't need to hear it, she can already tell, but the doctor says it anyway.

"I am so sorry…but both the injuries to her head and chest were far greater than we initially anticipated. We did everything we possibly could under the circumstances in which she had arrived…I am so sorry for your loss."

The doctor put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to show his sympathy before slowly walking away. He couldn't even take a second look at the sleeping boy, who had just lost both his parents.

Charlotte looked over at him and walked over to him. She bends down so their eyes are on the same level. "I am so sorry buddy," she tells him as she hugs him. "I am so sorry," she repeats into his neck although he was still sleeping.

 

**(Present Time: QC Conference Room)**

Felicity could barely breathe. She couldn't stop laughing at Henry's story about how he had quit his last job at Grant's United.

"You did  _not_  do that! I don't believe you!" Felicity said, still laughing.

"No, I'm not kidding Ms. Smoak! I really did send them to every employee, even the janitors and security!"

"Then what happened?" She asked wiping away a tear.

"I don't know, I heard my manager shouting my name but I was already in my car by the time he caught up," he said.

"I can't believe you sent the CEO's naughty emails to his mistress to everyone in the building! How did you not get sent to jail for it?"

"Well, I threatened to personally send them to his wife if he even tried to file a law suit."

Felicity slowly begins to breathe normally again.

"His wife was a nice woman so a few weeks later I sent the emails to a journalist I had met once or twice."

"You are one bad man Mr. McClain," she says but then quickly remembering his request to being called by his first name. "Henry, I mean…you are one bad man."

He chuckles, "So is that it? Is the interview over? I think I've already impressed you enough," he says trying to sound cocky.

Felicity smiles before looking down at the list Jerry had given her of questions to ask in case she needed them. She looks at the last one she has yet to check mark.

Felicity looks back up at him, "What is one of the hardest obstacles you've had to face or overcome in order to get to where you are now?"

Suddenly the smile that was on his face slowly begins to disappear. Felicity notices how stiff his posture becomes at hearing the question.

"You don't have to answer that. I mean – that has nothing to do with the job. That was a personal kind of question. I'm sorry if –"

"No, no, it's fine," he interrupts. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to get to know someone personally before you invite them into your home," he tells her.

Felicity gives him a questioning look.

"Because Queen Consolidated is your home after all," he clarifies.

"Oh yes, of course! Mine and Oliver's…I mean not our actual home,  _home_ , but I mean we do spend a lot of time here and–"

He leans forward and puts his hand on her shoulder, "Ms. Smoak," he interrupts. "You warned me to stop you if I thought you might begin rambling," He tells her, but there is no annoyance or judgment in his voice, only a hint of humor.

"Right…well, back to the question…if you still want to answer it that is?" She asks. "Oh, and Felicity, will do," she adds.

He takes his hand off of her shoulder and clears his throat. He leans back so that he is resting his arms on his legs and knees. "I've done some things in my life that I am not proud of Felicity, things that make it very hard for me to wake up every morning and go on with my day."

"What do you mean?" Felicity asks when it appears he isn't going to clarify. That was not the answer she was expecting to hear, or was that even an answer at all?

"Do you want full honesty Felicity?"

She can feel herself become tense now, her palms sweaty on top of the table. Suddenly the room is hot and silent, only the sound of the second hand moving inside of the clock. Why does she feel as though she is about to hear a murder confession?

"Okay than Felicity," he says, getting comfortable in his chair, "To tell you the truth, I can't think of  _one single_  obstacle that has been the hardest. Most of my life has been an obstacle course."

Felicity feels as though the last sentence is meant to be a joke by the tone he says it in, but everything else sounds so serious she just decided to stay quite.

He clears his throat ones again, "Let me begin with saying that I had a rough start in my life. My father had left my mother as soon as he had found out she was pregnant, and her parents disowned her soon after. She worked her butt off in more than one job so she could provide food and shelter for me and so in return I worked my ass off to get scholarships and grants so I could practically go to college for free because there was no way she could afford it, and I wouldn't want her to. I always had an intense passion for computers, fixing them, building them, or even just using them. I graduated high school early and got into MIT immediately after.

"That is only one of your obstacles? What's harder than that? Felicity asks, shocked at his honesty but also curious to know more. She couldn't help but think of herself and her situation. They weren't all that different in that area, her and him, except he was spared the experience of actually seeing his father walk away from his life, nevertheless, abandonment was abandonment and the feeling was the same.

He smiles at her but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "I think that my wife and daughters death takes the cake for the hardest thing I've ever had to overcome," he says without feelings, just a fact.

"I'm so sorry…I didn't know," Felicity says feeling like a completely insensitive jerk.

"It's quite alright. You had no way of knowing."

"What happened to them?" Felicity asks before she can stop herself.

He doesn't say anything.

"Wait, you don't have to answer that. It's none of my business. Sorry for asking," she adds.

"It was a car crash," he finally says. "And it was my fault."

"What?" Felicity asks beginning to get even more nervous.

"I was the one driving." He waits a few seconds for her to take it all in before continuing. "They had both fallen asleep. Margret, my wife, had warned me to stop at a hotel or to at least take a break but I was being stubborn as usual. It was around midnight and we were only about twenty minutes from town. We had managed not to see any cars for miles and it was quite so I couldn't resist closing my eyes for a few seconds…but then those seconds turned into minutes. Next thing I know a truck is heading our way and I didn't react in time. I tried swerving out of the way but I was too late. The truck hit the side of the car. The paramedics got there about thirty minutes later but Margret and Lydia, my daughter, never woke up again."

It is silent for what feels like forever. Felicity had no idea what to say besides, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Aren't we all?" He says getting up and buttoning up his suit. "So I take it that was the last question on the list?"

Felicity gets up right after him. "Yes, that's all."

He smiles at her and extends his hand, "Well, it was nice meeting you Felicity Smoak. I hope I see more of you soon and this company," he says.

"Of course, I'll have my EA Jerry call you."

She extends her hand out, "Goodbye Henry. It was nice meeting you. I hope you have a good rest of your day."

Henry shakes her hand, "Not goodbye Felicity, it's see you later. I hope that even if I don't get the job we can still be friends."

Felicity can't help but blush as he nods in goodbye and leaves the room. As he waits for the door of the elevator to open he takes one last look at her and smiles while saluting her goodbye as he walks in. Felicity falls back in her chair and takes a deep breathe. That was one of the most intense and downright depressing first meetings she had ever had, which was saying a lot.

Oliver would not like this one bit, not after the agreement they had had, but she knew she couldn't just not hire Henry to spare Oliver's feelings. He would be good at his job, maybe as good as or even better than her. He knew his technology; he could keep up with her tech talk. She had no idea how she was going to bring this up to Oliver because there was no doubt in her mind that she wasn't going to give Henry the job.

 

**So what did you guys think of Henry McClain or the chapter in general? Good first impression? Please leave some of your thoughts. I love reading your guy's reviews. Have a nice week! Also, if you have any important questions you could always ask me on my tumblr (uniqueismeeeee)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read, favor, follow, or review this story. I appreciate it all very much. The gangs having dinner together like the family they are and also more Connor and Charlotte. Hope you enjoy!**

Soon after Henry had left, Felicity decided to stay for a little while longer and look through some old files of past projects to see if any idea could come out of it. By the time she had looked at her phone again, she saw that she had four missed calls and multiple texts from Oliver.

_Where are you?_

**6:10 PM**

_You NEED to call me back. I'm starting to get worried!_

**6:15 PM**

_Too late! I'm worried! I'm heading over there right_ now

**6:25 PM**

Felicity looks at the time and quickly replies.

_I'm fine, don't worry, be home in a bit!_

**6:27 PM**

Felicity then turns off her computer screen and gathers all her things. She says goodbye to Jerry as she walks past his desk. "Go home and enjoy the weekend. That's an order!" she turns around and tells him before the doors to the elevator doors shut. She can see him nod and wave goodbye.

…

"Where were you? I was starting to get worried," Oliver says as soon as she walks through the doors of the Queen Mansion. He had in fact been waiting by the door.

She walks over to set her purse down by a small table next to the door. "I know and I'm sorry," She says giving him a chased kiss. "It's just that the interview lasted longer than I expected and then I got caught up in some files I was looking through."

"We have to be at Johns in like thirty minutes," he tells her, annoyance in his voice. " _Call_  next time Felicity," he says giving her a stern look.

"I will," is all she says.

He gives her a look as if he doesn't believe her.

"I promise," she says as she is walking up the stairs to their room. "I'm going to take a quick shower and we'll be at Dig's exactly on time."

She walks over to her dresser to get a pair of matching underwear and bra. "Do you want to join me?" She asks looking back at him, an attempt to make him stop being so upset.

He chuckles and Felicity smiles, she loved happy Oliver, she loved Oliver in general but more when he was smiling, which seemed to be happening a lot lately.

"I would but then we'd  _defiantly_ be late," he smirks. "Besides, I already took a shower after my workout."

"Huh, what a shame I guess," she says before walking into the bathroom they had in their room. Before she closes the door she places her items on top of the closed toilet seat. She stands right in front of the open door, directly in front of Oliver who is now leaning on their dresser, arms crossed. She begins to slowly take off the blue dress she had on, trying to look sexy as hell doing it. Oliver stares at her intensely, slowly his arms begin to fall to his sides and his mouth begins to open in awe. She takes the dress and stretches her hand far away and drops the dress next to her behind the door. She puts both her hands on her hips, only in her underwear and bra. Felicity was more than grateful that they were matching today.

She smirks at Oliver, toying with him. As he begins walking towards her, Felicity waits until the very last second to slam the door in his face and lock it. Oliver tries almost desperately to open it despite knowing it's locked. On the other side he can hear the water begin to run.

"You didn't want to join me, remember? You did this to yourself Mr. Queen!" He can hear her shout from the shower. He places his forehead on the door, his hand next to it. He can't help but smile deeply as he begins to hear the first few lyrics of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey come out of her lovely mouth.

…

As soon as she had gotten done with her shower, she quickly blow dried her hair and picked out an outfit. She decided to go with a sleeveless pink flowy top, and skinny jeans, with light pink pumps to go with it.

They drove over to Dig's apartment and as soon as he opened the door Felicity could see that everyone else was already sitting down in the living room chatting.

Diggle smiled at both of them, "Exactly on time," he said as he moved aside and extended his arm out to let them in.

Felicity gave Oliver an  _I told you so_  look and proceeded to walk inside, Oliver followed closely behind her. As soon as they walked in everyone else got up for hugs. Once they had all gotten acquainted they went and sat down at the dinner table.

"You guys are usually early. What happened?" Diggle smirked, trying to make things awkward for them but lucky for them, they had a good reason.

"Felicity had to interview someone for the head position of our new Smartpen project," Oliver spoke.

"Really? Why aren't you going to lead the project?" Roy asked before putting a fork pull of broccoli in his mouth.

Before Felicity can even open her mouth Thea is already on it. "Because Roy, with Mia coming soon Felicity won't have time, right?" She asked, smiling widely.

Felicity shakes her head yes. If anyone had been more excited about Mia becoming a part of the family it was definitely Thea.

"Looks like soon Sara is going to have a playmate," Lyla said.

Both she and Diggle turned their heads slightly to look back at the sleeping little Sara.

"We forgot to mention it early but Mia is actually three and a half years old too," Felicity stated.

"Even better," Diggle smiled.

"That's pretty sweet. They'll actually grow up together," Roy said.

"Kind of like siblings!" Thea chimed in.

Everyone chuckled at the thought.

"Who would have thought that when I was assigned to be your bodyguard six years ago that our children would be growing up together?" Diggle said looking over at Oliver.

"And who would have thought that Oliver Queen, CEO, night time vigilante would have fallen in love with his cute blond EA," Thea said with a hint of sarcasm, thinking of the typical cliché that was.

Oliver chuckles, "Say's the girl who's dating a street criminal."

"Ex street criminal," Roy and Thea said in unison

Oliver sighs, "I guess six years ago none of us thought we'd be sitting down together about to eat dinner. Everything is so different. We've lost a lot of people."

Suddenly silence fills the room. Everyone sinks into their chairs looking down at the plates in front of them as if saying a silent prayer in their head.

"All the people who couldn't be here today," Oliver looks over at Thea, "Mom and dad."

Under the table Felicity takes Oliver's hand and tangles her fingers within his. He lightly smiles at her. "Tommy, Sara, Andy…the list goes on."

Oliver looks over to Diggle who is sitting two chairs from him, "What's that saying again?"

"Gone but not forgotten," he says putting his glass up.

Lyla and everyone else quickly do the same. "Gone but not forgotten," they all say before hitting all their glasses together.

 

**(Charlotte's Apartment)**

She hadn't realize when he had waken up or when he had gotten in the chair across from the table but she only notices him after she finally takes her hands away from her face and looks up again and sees him sitting in the chair in front of her, on the other side of the table. She couldn't stop the tears from coming out in front of him. She had yet to tell Connor about his mother and Adam.

Adam had died on impact but Sandra had managed to make it to the hospital and operating table before finally giving out. Adam didn't have any family except for Sandra and Conner. After she had found out she signed some papers and woke up Connor but he was too dazed and tired to ask any questions. As soon as they stepped foot back into the apartment he had fallen asleep on the couch again.

"Why aren't we back at the hospital Aunt Charlotte? Shouldn't we still be waiting for my mom and dad?" he asked, wiping the sleepiness out of his eyes with his arm.

In a matter of seconds she breaks down all over again. How is she supposed to tell him that he has lost his parents? How is she going to tell him that he will never see his mother's beautiful smile again, or hear one of Adam's cheesy jokes that always managed to make him laugh when all he wanted to do was cry?

"Come here," she says motioning her hand towards herself.

He gets up and walks around the tablet next to her. She pulls out a chair. "Sit," she tells him.

It is in that moment that Connor realizes something must be wrong because she wouldn't be crying so much if something wasn't.

"I'm so sorry buddy," She says and she can tell that he already knows where this is leading.

"No," he whispers.

"Your mom…she didn't make it," She takes a second to catch her breath. "Connor…Adam –he was in the accident too, honey…" she stops, she can't continue, "Oh God," she whispers to herself.

She takes his hand in hers and wipers her tears with the other. She could barely handle it; she couldn't even begin to imagine how this was going to be on him. She knew what it was like to lose people you love, she had lost her sister and niece in the same type of accident but Connor was still a child, still had a long life ahead of him, and to live that life without his parents to watch over him, she couldn't even imagine.

His eyes slowly begin to shine with water, "But she said –" he raises his voice, "You all said that I would see them again…that this was only temporary," he quickly gets up out of the chair and begins to walk away.

"Connor!" She calls after him.

Before he completely left the kitchen he turns around and looks at the floor before looking back up at her, "They can't be dead…they would never abandon me like that," he whispers as if he was trying to reassure himself.

She tilts her head to the side, trying to prevent more tears from streaming down her face. "Oh Connor, honey –" before she can continue he is already running into her room and slamming the door shut.

 

**(John & Lyla's Apartment)**

They are the last ones to leave. They stayed behind to help Dig and Lyla clean up.

"So who'd you interview?" Lyla asked as they cleaned the dishes.

"His name was Henry McClain," Felicity says softly so Oliver can't hear from the table.

"McClain?" She says quietly to herself, "Why does that name sound so familiar?" She asked, leaning against the sink thinking.

"Probably because he's super smart," Felicity says finishing up the last dirty dish. "He graduated from MIT two years earlier than I did. Maybe he made some awesome technological breakthrough and it was all over the news." Although she would have totally known that.

She turns off the water and dries her hands. Lyla shakes her hand, "No, Henry McClain…he was in an accident a few years back. I think it was a car…killed his wife and daughter."

"You know about that?" Felicity asks, unable to hide her shock. She didn't think the accident would have been big news when it happened.

"Know about what?" Oliver asks, suddenly standing next to Felicity and kissing her cheek.

Soon Diggle is next to Lyla. They had gotten done cleaning off the table. Felicity stays silent, hoping Lyla won't carry on the conversation but as soon as Lyla opens her mouth Felicity stays silent

"Henry Mclain, he was in a car accident that killed both his wife and daughter…she was only five."

"What brought this up?" Diggle asked.

Lyla turns to look at him, "He's the guy Felicity interviewed today," she informs him.

As soon as the last sentence leaves Lyla's mouth Felicity can feel Oliver's eyes on her but she still doesn't take her eyes off of Lyla and Diggle, who now had his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Lost his wife and daughter in one day? God, poor man. How does he wake up every morning?" Diggle asked. "I wouldn't be able to function."

Felicity walks away from Oliver's bubble remembering what Henry had said about how hard it was for him to wake up every morning and live. "Uh…I don't know, we didn't talk about that," is all she says. Oliver doesn't take his eyes off of her.

Felicity grabs her purse from one of the chairs. "I think we should go now, I'm really tired," She says.

The room gets silent as the three of them exchange looks between each other before turning to look back at her but she only smiles in return. For some reason Felicity didn't want to talk about Henry past, she had this strange need to keep what happened to him as much a secret as possible. She didn't want to talk about what had happened to him. It was his own business and she felt the need to protect his privacy.

…

They had left a few minutes later. It was silent as they waited in the Elevator. It was silent as they walked to their car and it had been silent for the last two minutes inside of the car.

Finally Oliver turned to look at her, "Felicity –" Oliver began.

Felicity takes a deep breath and interrupts, "Before you get upset you should know that he is actually really smart and actually knows what he's doing and I know you're probably gonna bring up the fact that we both agreed not to hire the opposite sex to avoid any stupid media rumors and –" Felicity takes a deep breath and is about to continue her rant when he puts his hand on her knee to calm her down.

"Felicity…I was just going to ask how it went. I'm not mad, if he knows what he's doing then you should hire him. The media can suck it. You're the VP of a huge company; you can hire whoever the hell you please. Besides,  _we're_  getting married; I'm not too worried about what the media thinks."

Felicity leans over and kisses his cheek, "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" She asks.

Oliver chuckles, "Only every day."

"Good," She says as she leans back into her seat.

She leans her head against the window admiring the city lights. Today had been a good day.

 

**Don't forget to leave your thoughts and reviews please! Hope you all have an amazing week! P.S. Don't forget you can always greet me on tumblr: uniqueismeeeee (I know, it's random and weird, just like me!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read, favor, follow, or review this story. I appreciate it all very much. I hope you enjoy!**

 

"Felicity, go up to your room sweetheart," her mother tells her.

"But what about –"

"Go up to your room right now Felicity!" She shouts suddenly, her calm exterior now gone. This is the closest her mother has ever come to yelling at her.

Without another moment's hesitation Felicity runs upstairs. She stops at the very top step and turns around, the teddy bear her father had just bought her the other day still clutched in her tiny hand. Felicity watches as her mother begins to cry, not realizing that she is still watching her. Her mother cries for a few seconds before exhaling deeply and wiping her tears away. She finally walks past the doorframe and Felicity can hear as she begins to shout her father's name. She quickly runs to her room and stacks books on top of books so she can see outside of the window which is in direct view of the driveway.

Felicity watches as her father is quickly picking up his bags from the yard and throwing them inside the trunk of a taxi. Her mother is next to him within seconds, he doesn't seem to be hearing her because he just moves past her every time she gets in his way. Felicity can't hear what they are saying but her mother wouldn't stop pointing at the house and specifically her room, not noticing her at the window in the process.

Although her mother had failed to notice her, her father had not. He looked up at the window and although his eyes were filled with worry and sadness he still smiled up at her. Her mother had stopped talking and had dedicated her energy to crying. Her father looks back at her mother and he hugs her tightly. She tries to fight it but slowly stops when he doesn't loosen his grip on her. As he hugs her mother, he looks back up at her and says something to her. Felicity knows it might not be physically possible, or maybe it was her very skilled ability to read lips that lead her to believe—to swear she had heard him say, "You'll be alright pumpkin."

Felicity watches as he lets go of her mother and gets in the taxi, her mother left standing in the driveway completely alone. He left, he was never coming back and he didn't even say goodbye.

Felicity quickly wakes up, almost gasping for air, all sweaty. She turns to look over at Oliver. She feels a rush of relief when she sees that he is still sound asleep. She wipes the sweat off of her forehead and slowly gets out of bed before finding her phone on her bedside table. She lowers the brightness on her phone screen and uses it as a method of getting around the room to her robe and slippers. She quietly opens and closes the door to their room. As soon as she shuts the door, she uses the actual flashlight app on her phone that works wonderfully.

She walks down the stairs into the kitchen and turns on the kitchen lights. She quickly makes her way to the freezer and grabs a pint of mint chocolate chip ice-cream. She grabs the biggest spoon she can find and takes both items with her into the living room. She turns on the TV and searches through the channels before finally leaving it on some old cartoon about a cow and a chicken. She begins to dig into her ice-cream and she has barely made a dent in the tub when Oliver appears wearing only his green plaid pajama pants.

"What are you doing?" He asks leaning on one of the walls that is the entrance to the living room.

Felicity jumps in her seat, still believing that she was alone. She turns to look over at him as if she has just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I couldn't sleep," She tells him, purposely leaving out the why part.

Oliver yawns and walks over to sit down on the couch next to her. Without asking, he takes her spoon and ice-cream away from her and scoops some up for himself. She is too tired to play fight about it so instead she asks, "Why are you up all of a sudden? When I woke up you were sound asleep," she says. "Snoring even," she jokes.

Oliver hands her back her spoon and ice-cream. "One; I do not snore," he informs her. "Two; it's because I can't sleep unless I know you're next to me…near me," he says in a more serious tone.

"Well how did you know that I wasn't in bed if you were asleep? Or did you just wake up and realize I wasn't there?" She asks him, putting a spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth, praying she doesn't get brain freeze.

"Because on the island I always had to be on alert and so I barely slept. I just closed my eyes. When I'm with you I can  _actually_ fall asleep because I know I don't have to be on alert. You make feel calm, like nothing bad can ever happen when I'm with you."

She swallows her ice cream slowly as he watches her and quietly chuckles to himself.

"I feel the same way," she tells him. "But in all honesty that's probably just because you're all muscle and 'grrr' and good with bows," she jokes.

He laughs. She puts the lid on her ice-cream and sets it down next to the spoon on the coffee table in front of them. She sits back and rests her head on his shoulder.

"I love you Oliver, you changed my life, opened my heart in ways I didn't even now were possible and no words will ever express how thankful I am for that," she tells him softly.

He moves his shoulder away, forcing her to move her head and look at him.

"Felicity…"

"What?" She asks.

"Not that I don't love it when you tell me how much you love me but are you okay? I mean, you've never had any trouble sleeping before…is everything alright?" He stares at her, worry filling both his eyes and voice.

But she wasn't alright. She had had trouble sleeping before; it was just that the dreams had never caused her to wake up like that, all out of breath.

"No, nothing's wrong," she smiles. "It's just you never know when something is going to happen, I just want to make sure you realize how much I love you," she kisses him.

"Nothing is ever going to happen, our lives are perfect right now," he kisses her back. "The city is a safe place to live in again, we're engaged, Mia is coming in a few days, everything is perfect, nothing can ruin it," he tells her.

She gives him another chased kiss before leaning on his shoulder again and this time he wraps one of his arms around her back to pull her closer, she moans in appreciation. He rests his head on hers and they continue to watch the screen.

 

**(Charlotte's apartment: 4:45 AM)**

Charlotte slowly begins to wake up. She must have fallen asleep soon after Connor had run to her room. She was resting her hand on her arms on the table when she opens her eyes. She picks up her head and pushes back the loose small hairs that had managed to escape her now messy ponytail. She gets up out of the chair and manages to get to the light switch thanks to the moonlight streaming in through the small kitchen window. Charlotte takes a deep breath and makes her way through her small apartment living room to her bedroom door. She tries opening it but it's locked. She doesn't want to wake Connor up so she just lets it go.

As Charlotte turns around to head back into the kitchen to get a drink of water she notices them just lying there on fireplace mantel. She put them there before she got the call and grabbed Connor to run to the hospital. Charlotte walks over and grabs the envelope on the top that has her name written on it. She stares at it for what seems like forever before she goes back and sits down in the same chair she had woken up in.

She lays it on the table and stares at it for another minute. This is the last thing her friend will have ever said to her…written to her. Inside this envelope was her mission, her best friend's last thoughts, what Sandra wanted her to do.

Without another seconds hesitation Charlotte delicately opens it up as to not cause damage. She takes out the letter and unfolds it. She leans forward, using one hand to hold the letter and the other resting on the table.

_Dear Charlotte,_

_First, I want you to know how much I love you, how much your friendship has meant to me over the years. You were like the sister I always wished I had growing up and an amazing aunt to Connor. Second, I'm sorry because if you're reading this than that means that my worst fear has come true and I can no longer be there for you or my son. I am writing you this letter because there is one last thing I need you to do for me: Fix my mistake, mend what I broke._

_A long time ago, before I moved to Central City, I did something terrible. I slept with a man in a relationship and a few weeks later found out I was pregnant. His mother became aware of the news and offered me two million dollars to start a new life in Central City and raise my child only on the condition that I told him I had miscarried and never returned. I knew it was wrong, I knew it in my heart but I didn't have any other choice. I knew there was no way he was going to leave his girlfriend and he was still so irresponsible. He wasn't ready to grow up, especially to be a father so I took the two million dollars and lied to him. Soon after I moved to Central City, I gave birth to Connor, I met Adam and found true love. He accepted us and then I met you, my best friend. I guess in a way my choice wasn't so bad._

_The man I slept with? The name of Connors real father? His name is Oliver Queen. You probably already know who that is which will only make this easier. I need you to tell him about Connor. I need you to fix my mistake. I want you to give Oliver the amazing opportunity that I so easily took away from him years ago. I want Connor to get to know his biological father. I know you love Connor and I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for you two right now. I know you must be trying your hardest to comfort him._

_The last favor I will ever ask of you is this: When you're ready, go to the Queen Mansion and tell Oliver about Connor, give him the letter I gave to you. I know it will be hard for both of them to accept the truth but please, when they're both ready, give them a chance to get to know each other. Maybe in the end Connor can even live with him, they can truly become father and son._

_With a lot of love, Sandra Hawke_

Charlotte takes a moment to let this all sink in. How could Sandra not have told her this? Did Adam know? Then it hits her, really hits her. Oliver  _freaking_ Queen? Oliver –ex-playboy, stranded on an island for 5 years – Queen? How would he take this? How would he handle this? Had being stranded on an island for five years made him a better person, given him the push he really needed to grow up?

Suddenly Charlotte remembers something from a few weeks ago; she had just gotten done waiting on her last table at Café Whisper Steakhouse. She had changed into her normal clothes and was counting the money she had received in tips when Stacy, the manger, turned up one of the small TV's they had around the Café. She didn't care too much for the news so she continued on her path to the door when she heard the reporter mention "Starling City". That was the place Henry had informed her he was going to move to.

She looked up curiously to see what the big fuss was about when she realized it wasn't about the city itself they were talking about but of Oliver Queen and his recent engagement to some pretty blond who was supposedly the Vice President of his company as well. Charlotte heard the soft groans of women slowly fill the Café before she walked out to go home.

Charlotte practically slaps her forehead as she recalls how on her walk home she couldn't stop smiling at thinking how lucky the pretty blond was for getting hitched to someone like him.

_Getting hitched._ Oliver Queen was getting married! Getting married is a big step, an _adult_ decision and he was taking that step. The picture they had shown of the lucky couple, in all of them he looked nothing less like a man truly in love. Did that mean that he was ready for the truth? He was ready to get married…but was he ready to be a father, to make up for all the lost years?

Charlotte thought he was but now the only problem was…how would this so called Felicity Smoak react to the news that her future husband already has a son? What would this do to them? Would they make it?

"Never were one to make things easy, were you Sandra?" Charlotte whispers to herself. She smiles and folds the letter back up. She kisses the envelope it was placed in and leaves it on the table. She walks over to the couch and lies down. The next few minutes are spent wondering how in the heck she was going to pull this all off before she finally fell asleep once again.

 

**Don't forget to leave your thoughts and reviews please! I love knowing what you all think of my story. Also, in case any of you are wondering when Mia is finally going to show it should be within one of the next few chapters. I'm not trying to drag it out too long or anything it just hasn't felt like the right time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So this chapter takes place two days later. Also, in case people are still confused Felicity CAN have children, she is fertile. They just chose adoption. Hope that cleared up some things!(:**

 

Felicity slowly opens her eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight coming in from the giant window next to their bed. She is about to turn around when she realizes Oliver's got his arm wrapped around her stomach. It's only 6:30 AM so she decides to turn off the alarm on her phone and give Oliver a few more peaceful minutes of sleep.

She carefully gets out of Oliver's embrace. As soon as he loses the touch of her body he shifts in the opposite direction. She gets in her slippers and makes her way down to the kitchen. She gets a Cream Crunch cereal box from one of the cabinets and pours herself some in a small bowl. As she's eating she turns on the TV that is placed right in front of the table next to the fridge

The news is on but Felicity doesn't really pay much attention to it until bright red letters reading "Breaking News" appear on the screen. She watches quietly as she sees a car crash scene appear. The headlines reading:  _Fatal car crash leaves 2 dead & child without parents_

Felicity uses the universal remote on her phone to turn up the volume.

"...died on impact the woman in the passenger's seat had managed to make it to the hospital before dying of heart failure on the operating table. The funeral for the young couple will be this afternoon and of course all of us here give our deepest condolences to the friends, family, and most importantly the eleven year old son going through such a hard time."

The male reporter lowers his head and gives a moment of silence. It is silent until the screen turns black and goes to a commercial. Before putting her bowl in the sink Felicity gives her very own moment of silence.

Reasons like these were why she avoided trying to watch the news. It was always really depressing. She knew the world wasn't always kind to everyone but she preferred not to be reminded of it daily. Now that Starling City was a quite city again Felicity had no reason to watch the news to find things for Oliver to do. She was very grateful for that.

Felicity makes her way upstairs and up to their room. She notices that Oliver is still in the same position that he was when she left. She tiptoes to his side of the bed, his face tucked above his pillow, one hand stretched under his pillow and the other under his neck near the edge of the bed. She bends down and watches his eye lids closely to see if what he said last night was true. Could he really not sleep unless she was by his side? Did she really have that power over him?

She leans in closer to him, enough so that she can hear his breathing. She can't help but smile, he was just so damn adorable, even in sleep. She places a soft kiss on his nose and when she looks up at his eyes again they are open. Before Felicity can even say anything his hands have a strong grip on her hips and she is in the air. A yelp managing to escape through her lips as her body softly hits the mattress right next to him so that their eyes are in direct view of each other.

His body still wrapped around the thin white sheets, he decides to wrap them around her body as well.

"What were you trying to do?" He asks smiling. "Trying to sneak up on my Ms. Smoak?" He kisses her.

"Of course not," she tells him. "I would like to live another day," she adds jokingly.

"More than just another day Felicity...a life time of days," he tells her.

She nods. "I was just admiring your face," she finally says.

He doesn't reply, instead he continues to stare at her with those magnificent blue eyes of his that she just loved. He moves a strand of her hair and places it behind her ear.

"What are you doing?" She asks quietly as if not to ruin whatever moment this was.

"Just admiring your face," he says softly.

He moves over and kisses her softly on the lips. "You're the love of my life Felicity...you're it for me."

"Oliver–"

"Wait," he interrupts.

A small smile appears on his face but Felicity is well aware that it is as much filled with sadness as it is with joy. He caresses her cheek and she leans into his warm hand.

"For five years I was in hell and in all that time I never once thought I'd experience happiness or joy ever again…not even after I got home. I was home with family and friends but I wasn't  _home_. I was no longer the same person I was when I left. I did terrible things to survive and I never once thought I deserved a life or happiness. Then I walked into your office..." He pauses taking a moment to remember that day and he smiles.

Felicity stays silent realizing how important what he is about to say must be for him. His eyes become glossy at remembering the past.

"I smiled for the first time in a long time and I meant it, it wasn't a mask or some trick to fool anyone. You made me feel something that had almost become unrecognizable to me. I began to believe as though maybe I wasn't completely hopeless. You joined the team, I smiled more. I fell in love with you and I began to realize I wanted happiness and a life with you...I wanted to deserve happiness. You are the light of my life."

They don't say anything. Felicity doesn't say anything; Oliver only stares at her waiting. If only he knew how hard she was trying to hold back the wet eyes.

"You do deserve happiness Oliver...more than anyone else I know. You've saved lives; you've saved an entire city of people in more than one occasion. You are in every definition a hero…my hero."

She scoots up closer to him so that her head is resting right under his chin, "A hero who I will cherish and love for the rest of my life and every day I will remind you of that."

He kisses the top of her head. "It's just that every time things seem too good to be true it's typically because they are or because it is about to be followed by disaster and the worst thing that can happen to me right now is losing you."

She moves back and looks at him, she places a kiss on his lips, "You shall never lose me," she tells him. "For what would a King do without his Queen?" She smiles.

He chuckles before grabbing her tightly and shaking her in his arms. Quickly the room is filled with only laughter.

 

**(Café Whisper Steakhouse)**

There they were ten minutes later, sitting at the café in plain black clothes. Charlotte had worn her long black coat and Connor had worn his. It was a cool gloomy day; it had begun to sprinkle during the funeral. Funny, Charlotte thought, even the heavens were weeping.

As soon as they walked in the place got quite, everyone realizing where they had just come from. They sat down at a booth placed next to a window.

"How you holding up?" Stacy asks quietly as she walks up to their booth to take their order, avoiding Connors eyes in the process.

"Better," Charlotte lies.

Stacy gives her a sympathetic nod of understanding. It was only then that she turns to Connor and bends down to talk to him. "How does a chocolate shake sound buddy? You want one?" She asks him.

Connor looks up at Charlotte in a way of asking for her permission. Charlotte just nods her head, "You want one?" She asks.

Connor nods and Stacy stands back up. "You got it," She turns to look at Charlotte, "What do you want?"

"Just get me the same thing," Charlotte tells her.

Stacy leaves with their order and it is silent for the next few minutes until she returns. Charlotte takes out some cash but before she can hand it to Stacy she puts her hand up to stop her, "It's on the house."

She turns around but then walks back, "Feel free to take all the time you need Charlotte. I'll get someone to cover your shifts."

"I owe you, thank you."

"No problem. Don't worry about it," Stacy tells her kindly before finally walking away for good.

Connor was quiet and had barely spoken to her in the past two days and it was beginning to worry Charlotte. She wasn't sure if it was because he was still upset at her or maybe it was because he just wasn't ready to talk yet. But what worried Charlotte the most was not that he wasn't speaking to her but that since she had told him about them dying he had not cried. He had not lost all control of his emotions like she had or asked any questions.

Was he going to be okay? Charlotte knew the obvious answer to that question but she meant  _eventually_. Would he come to terms with what has happened or would he keep it all bottled up inside?

 

**(Queen Consolidated)**

After their little laughing party Felicity had actually taken the shower she went into their room to take. While Oliver was eating breakfast and Felicity was getting ready to leave they agreed to get lunch together

Felicity smiles at Jerry who was sitting down at his desk just outside her office. She had gotten Ray's old office which seemed appropriate since it was filled with a lot of technology. As soon as Oliver had gotten his company back Felicity let him have his old office although he was hesitant she had managed to finally convince him after a few minutes.

"Good morning," Felicity nods.

"Another early visit," he replies as she stopped in front of his desk.

"Again?" She asks already knowing who it was. "This is the second day in a row. I'm starting to get a little creeped out," She jokes.

"He brought coffee again," he smiles.

"Correction: I am grateful," she tells him before walking into her office.

Just as Jerry had said, there he was sitting down in the chair right in front of her desk, opposite of hers. As soon as he hears the sound of her heels tapping the floor he turns around in the chair, paper coffee cup with the black lid, in hand.

"Good morning sunshine!" Henry smiles.

"Although I appreciate it, you know you don't have to get me coffee, right? I have an EA for that, or my very own hands for that matter," she tells him as she grabs the cup from his hand and sits down at her desk.

A triumphant smile appears on his face as she takes a sip out of the cup. "I know but I have to find an easy way to suck up to my boss."

"I'm not your only boss. I'm just the Vice President and even though I am the head of the technology department, Oliver is still in charge."

"But you are the one who hired me after all," he tells her.

Felicity doesn't say anything. Instead she turns on her computer and it is silent for a few seconds as she opens up a few files.

"Speaking of Oliver Queen," he begins hesitantly, "I heard you two were engaged."

It sounds more of a question than a statement. She stays silent. She was surprised that it had taken him this long to hear about it. Even so, she was hoping she would have a chance to tell him on her own time. They had made an instant friendship.

"Yes we are engaged and we are also expecting a new member of the family soon," She tells him.

Suddenly Henry's expression turns into absolute shock, "I didn't know you were pregnant," he leans in and whispers as if it was some sort of secret.

"Oh," Felicity says understanding how what she had said implied. "I'm not pregnant!" She shakes her head. "We are adopting!"

"Adopting? That's amazing!"

They both smile. If anyone understood why Felicity chose adoption it would probably be Henry. Felicity and Oliver wanted nothing more than for her to have his children but first they wanted to adopt a child who didn't have the gift of growing up with two loving parents. Even if it is just one, it is one child who will get a chance to have a family, something Felicity lost and only recently gained back thanks to Team Arrow because they were her family now.

"Her name is Mia Dearden but hopefully in a few weeks she will become Mia Queen."

Just as quickly as Henry's smile had appeared on his face at hearing the news it had disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Felicity asks noticing a concerned expression forming on his face.

He shifts in his seat clearly uncomfortable. "Felicity pardon my asking…but how much do you  _really_ know about Oliver Queen?"

Felicity stops typing and turns to look at him once again. "I'd say pretty well…considering the fact that I am going to marry him in a few months…"

Felicity wasn't sure if he had noticed her confused reaction to the question because he only scoots his chair in closer and places his hands on the desk.

"So…you know  _everything_ about Mr. Queen? The person he was, what happened before he met you?"

"What do you mean?" She asks still confused. "If this is about how he used to have his fair share of fun with the ladies when he was younger then yes, I do know that."

He doesn't react.

"But that was before he was stranded on an island for five years Henry, in those five years he changed, he became a better man, a man I am in love with," she tells him more seriously, defensively.

"Felicity I didn't mean anything by it. I was just –"

"Why is this beginning to feel like an interrogation?" She asks only half kidding. "Is there something about Oliver that you know that I'm not aware of?"

"I was just asking because…" before he continues he gets quiet and slightly shakes his head, "because of nothing…I was just curious, that's all. Sorry if I came on a little too…weird."

Felicity opens her mouth to say something when suddenly her phone begins to ring. She closes her mouth and reaches for it in her purse. "Hold on," she tells Henry before answering the phone.

Henry doesn't wait a second longer before getting up out of the chair, "I'm just gonna go now," he tells her softly. Before Felicity can stop him she hears the person on the other line asking for her.

" _Ms. Smoak?"_

"Yes?"

" _This is Lexy Smith, from the adoption agency. I'm in charge of your case?"_

"Yes of course! How are you? Is everything alright?"

" _I'm fine, thank you for asking but I'm afraid something has happened. Mia has become ill and it appears as though if things continue, you will not be able to take her home anytime soon."_

Felicity quickly gets out her seat; bag already in hand, "What?" Felicity almost shouts.

" _This morning when we checked on her she was burning up. She had a temperature of 106 and wouldn't stop crying. We've taken her to the hospital and she is being cared for as we speak."_

She begins to walk as fast as her feet can possibly let her. She clicks the button to the elevator to get to the very top floor to Oliver's office.

"Starling General Hospital?" She asks getting in the elevator.

" _Yes but –"_

"We'll be there in five minutes," she says before hanging up the phone, the doors to the elevator closing.

 

**So what did you all think? Don't forget to leave your thoughts in reviews please! I love knowing what you all think of my story. Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So you all finally get to meet Mia! Maybe not under the best of circumstances but still. Also, a big thank you for anyone who takes the time to read, favor, follow, or review this story. It is very much appreciated!(:**

**(Starling General Hospital: Five minutes later)**

 

They practically storm through the hospital doors as if speeding the whole way here was not enough. Oliver stops at the front desk to ask for Mia's room number while Felicity doesn't stop until she reaches one of the elevators. As she presses the button Oliver is already running to her side.

"She's not in a room. We have to wait in the waiting room on the fourth floor," he informs her.

The elevator door opens and they both quickly get in, Oliver pushing the button to the fourth floor. It is filled with silence except for the sound of Felicity's heel tapping against the elevator floor repeatedly.

Oliver turns his body to face her. He puts his hand on her shoulder, something that always manages to calm her down despite any situation.

"She is going to be fine Felicity," he says softly. "Everything is going to be fine."

"But what if it's not? What if she's really sick and we can't take her home with us? We were so close Oliver. We can't lose her now." She bites her bottom lip in a weak attempt to stop herself from crying.

"That's not going to happen," he says as if he has never been surer of anything in his life. "Mia is strong…just like I am…just like you are. She is going to get through this."

He puts his hand on her cheeks and places a soft kiss on her forehead. "The three of us are going to get through this."

She looks up at him, "You said so yourself…if things seem too good to be true, it's typically because they are," she says softly. "And before this, it was really good. We both know that when things are good…disaster never fails to follow…"

Before Oliver can think of what to say or even open his mouth the elevator doors open. They both take a deep breath, holding onto each others hands as they walk past the elevator doors and into one of the hallways. They quickly walk around trying to find the waiting room.

 

**(Charlottes Apartment)**

"Do you want to watch some TV?" Charlotte asks as they get into her apartment.

Connor just nods his head before running to turn on the TV and sitting down on the couch.

Charlotte yawns and walks into the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She turns on the coffee maker that already had some left over coffee from this morning. She walks into her room to take off her coat and as she is hanging it up in her closet she glances up and sees the purple shoe box she had placed both the remaining letters in. She hangs her coat and takes a few steps to glance back at Connor who was still preoccupied with the Power Rangers to notice her.

She takes the shoe box out from the top shelf of the closet and sits down on the edge of her bed with it in lap. She opens it and sees the two letters. She picks up the one with Connors name on it. She looks at Connor past the door and back at the sealed envelope. Was now the right time to give it to him?

Charlotte sits still for a few more seconds before realizing it was now or never. She gets up, "Connor can you turn off the TV? I have something important to show you," she shouts from her room.

She puts the box back in her closet and walks out into the living room where Connor stands next to the turned off Television.

"I have something for you," she says bending down showing him the envelope. "Something your mom left for you."

She holds on to his hand. "Come on," she says as they walk into the kitchen.

Charlotte pushes two chairs next to each other. He sits in one and Charlotte sits in the one next to him. They both stare at the envelope in front of them.

"What is that?" He finally asks.

"Inside is a letter your mom wrote for you before her…before she left."

"What does it say," he asks looking up at her.

"I don't know," she tells him. "That's why we are sitting here. We are going to find out."

He just stares back at it with a blank expression on his face.

"Do you think you can read it or do you want me to read it for you?' She finally asks.

"Mmh," he looks up to the ceiling, thinking. "You can read it to me. I'm sure mom wouldn't mind."

Charlotte can't help but smile. It's the first time he'd spoken more than a word to her.

"I'm sure she wouldn't." She agrees.

Charlotte slowly rips open the envelope and takes out the folded piece of paper. She takes one last look at Connor before unfolding it and beginning to read.

_Dear Connor,_

_How are you holding up baby? I know right now you are probably confused and scared but don't worry; you can always trust your aunt Charlotte. I love you very much and don't you ever forget it honey. You are the best thing that ever happened to me and there is nothing I regret more than not being there to watch you grow up into the good young man I know you will become one day._

_In a few weeks or maybe even days your aunt is going to take you some place and you probably won't like it at first because it's new to you. You're going to meet someone and you probably won't like him at first either because he's a stranger, but I promise that once you get to know him you'll realize he's a good person. I wouldn't let you meet him if he wasn't._

_I know you're mostly likely scared about what the future holds for you now that we aren't with you but you're a smart little boy with a bright future ahead of you. I believe in you baby. Your dad and I are alright now and we'll always be watching over you. We love you very much Con Con._

_With a lot of love, Mom_

As Charlotte finishes the last sentence a tear manages to escape her eye. Connor leans over and hugs her. "They're alright now Aunt Charlotte, why are you crying?" He asks confused by her emotions.

She turns to him. "No reason," she lies. "Your mother's words were just touching."

"Where are you taking me? Where am I going?" He asks.

Charlotte places a hand on the top of his head and pets his hair. "You know your parents loved you very much, right?" She asks. Connor nods without a moment's hesitation. "And they always wanted what's best for you."

Connor nods his head once again and Charlotte pulls him into a hug. She didn't know if Oliver Queen was what was best for him but she had to trust Sandra's instinct. She was certain that Oliver Queen had become a changed man. She had to believe it too.

 

**(Starling General Hospital: Waiting room)**

They'd been waiting along with Lexy for the past fifth teen minutes and Felicity was beginning to get to edgy. Oliver is about to attempt to calm her down for the umpteenth time when her phone suddenly rings from inside her purse. He realizes that she is hesitant to answer so he places a hand on her knee, "It might be important," he tells her.

"More important than this?" she says before answering the call anyway and getting up to walk across the room away from everyone else.

"Hello?" She answers as soon as she is out of listening range as to not disturb anyone else.

" _Felicity? Where are you? The meeting is about to start soon and you're nowhere to be found!"_

She looks at the collar idea to see an unknown number. "Who is this?" She replies.

" _Henry. Where are you?"_  He says quickly.

"At the hospital," She answers quickly. "And what meeting? How did you get my number?"

" _Hospital?"_ He asks suddenly becoming worried.  _"Are you alright? What happened? What hospital? Do you need me to –"_

"I'm not her for me," she interrupts him. "We came here for Mia. And  _what_  meeting Henry?"

" _The one you specifically set up to talk to the board with, and make them fall in love with the project, and give them the plans,"_ he says making sure to emphasize the fact that she set up the meeting.

As she is taking a casual glance back she notices Oliver and Lexy standing up talking to the pediatrician.

"The files are on my computer! Print them out or something, charm them! I have to go! Bye!" She says it so quickly that it all comes out sounding like a long sentence.

" _Wait! You can't just –"_

She hangs up and rushes over next to Oliver before Henry can finish his sentence.

"How is she," Felicity asks as soon as she reaches Oliver's side, interrupting the doctor as he spoke.

He kindly smiles at her, "As I was getting ready to tell Mr. Queen…Mia is alright. She just has a mild ear infection which explains the fever and why she wouldn't stop crying. It's nothing to serious and it should safely clear up on its own without the use of any antibiotics."

He proceeds to take out a small notepad and a pen from his white coat pocket. He writes a few things down before tearing off the small piece of paper and handing it to Felicity, "Here is a list of some things you can do to relieve some of the pain at home and over the counter medication you can always buy for her." He smiles one last time at them before finally walking away.

Lexy follows the doctor to ask him more question no doubt. Oliver turns towards Felicity and caresses both her cheeks. "See, I told you everything was going to be alright," he kisses her. "An ear infection is nothing Mia can't handle."

"Maybe I should listen to you more often." Felicity smiles feeling completely relieved.

Lexy walks back over to them and they both turn to face her. "Dr. Greene said I can take her back with us. Would you two like to see her before I take her with me?"

"Yes!" They say in unison.

Oliver quickly clears his throat. "I mean, can we?" He asks more calmly.

Lexy nods. "Of course."

Soon after a nurse leads them into the small checkup room in which Mia is still sitting on a small bed. She is playing with a pink elephant magnetic drawing board and doesn't take much notice to their entrance, but even so Oliver quickly goes to pick her up. He does a visual exam on her before kissing her cheek and placing her close to his chest. "I knew you'd be fine, I told your mom you'd be fine!" He says in a soft voice.

"He did," Felicity tells her in an adorable childish voice while softly pinching one of her cheeks.

Oliver smile slowly fades as he turns back to look at Lexy who is standing by the door. "I'm sorry…I guess I shouldn't really be giving us titles yet…"

"Oh no, it's quite alright. There is no reason for you to apologize," the middle aged woman says nicely. "It just shows how much you want this to work. We're happy you're excited."

"We are," Felicity says.

"Well, seeing as it is only an ear infection and the doctor said it will safely clear up on its own, you should still be able to take her home with you within a week or so, only after it's completely cleared up of course. A few days late but –"

"It's fine," Oliver interrupts.

"As long as we get to take her home with us we don't care how long it takes…" Felicity says.

"It's worth the wait," Oliver finishes for her while they both stare at the now calm Mia.

"That's wonderful to hear," Lexy says. "I have to go sign some papers. I'll be right back to get Mia. I'll give you three a minute."

As soon as Lexy leaves they sit down in the chairs. Mia sits on Oliver's lap still enjoying her doodle board.

"I'm sorry," Felicity finally says after seconds of silence.

Mia stares up at her in curiosity. "Sorry," she repeats in a low voice.

Felicity and Oliver chuckle. "Yes mommy is sorry," she tells her as she plays with her hair.

Oliver looks up at Felicity. "Why are you sorry?" He finally asks.

"For what I said in the elevator about how when things seem too good disaster follows. I was just scared."

He puts a hand on her cheek. "Hey," he says softly, "You don't ever have to apologize for being scared, alright. It's fine. I'm the one who said it in the first place…but I was wrong Felicity. Nothing bad is ever going to happen to us again."

She smiles as she leans into his touch.

"Well I mean bad things will happen, we are only human after all. I mean nothing vigilante bad related," he adds.

She can't help but smile. "Besides if something bad were to happen, it would have happened by now since things have been  _extra_  good for the last three years," she adds.

They both lean in for a kiss and Mia stares at them smiling. She puts one of her small hands on each of their cheeks, "Family!" she shouts.

Oliver and Felicity both smile. "Yes, we are going to be a family," Oliver tells the little blond girl.

They sit patiently waiting for Lexy to return, enjoying every second they have together.

 

**So what did you all think? Don't forget to leave your thoughts in reviews please! I love knowing what you all think of my story. Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: A big thanks for anyone who takes the time to read, favor, follow, or review this story. It is very much appreciated! There is more of Thea and Roy in this chapter and you'll find out something shocking that Connor already knows, who is beginning to speak more! Hope you all enjoy!**

 

"How could you just leave me here,  _alone_ , to fend for myself against the board of directors,  _without_  any warning?" Henry asks loudly, irritated, as he barges into Felicity's office almost scaring her.

After the whole Mia incident Felicity had decided that it was alright for her to go back to her office, seeing as it wasn't something too bad. Oliver and her still agreed to meet for lunch in about four hours.

"Well hello to you too Mr. Sunshine," Felicity greets sarcastically as she takes her eyes off her screen up at him. "It went that bad, huh?" She asks more seriously, disappointingly.

"No! They freaking loved me!" He says in a matter-of-fact kind of way as he takes a seat.

Before she can even open her mouth to ask, Henry is already talking again. "How's Mia?" He asks becoming less heated as every second passes by.

"Fine." She states. "Mild ear infection." She tells him.

Henry nods, a look of relief making its way across his face. "That's good news."

"So, what happened in the meeting?" Felicity asks thinking he would have answered her question by now. "And I was shocked you called me instead of Jerry."

"You told me to charm them…so I did," he finally says. "And as I was practically searching the building for you I found Jerry in the snack room and he said I could just use his phone book to call you since he was gonna be awhile."

Felicity nods understand the last part. Jerry often enjoys his snacks. She gives him a look, "So…I won't be getting a call from any of the board members telling me to fire you, effective immediately?" She jokes.

"Of course not, you gave me a job and I did it," he tells her. "And I did it  _good_ ," he adds.

"Well I'm glad to know I can actually depend on you for things…" she smiles at him before turning to her screen.

"You always can," he says softly.

"Especially today, that hasn't really started off very well," she sighs, probably not even hearing what he had just said. "First I watch the news for the first time in forever and the first thing I hear is that a young couple died, leaving an eleven year old orphaned. Then the whole Mia thing…it's just been a rough morning."

Henry doesn't reply. He just stares into space at hearing the words 'car crash' come out of Felicity's mouth.

"I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have brought that up," she begins. "You probably already knew that anyway and –"

"Felicity," he smiles. "It's fine, but I don't make a habit of watching the news so I didn't know. Was the accident here, in Starling City?"

"No actually, it was in Central City, two days ago," she informs him.

After a few seconds of not hearing his response she turns to look at him once again. He's staring at her but not actually  _seeing_  her.

"Henry? What's wrong?" She asks waving a hand in direct view of his gaze.

He quickly snaps out of whatever trance he was in, "Huh?"

"I told you about the accident and you didn't say anything…you just kinda blanked out again." Felicity tells him.

"Oh yeah," he says waving it off. "I'm fine." Felicity doesn't believe him for a second.

"I just need to get back to work," he says as he gets up.

"Oh…kay…" she says to herself as he begins to walk away.

Before walking completely out of sight he walks back into her office, tapping his fingers on her desk to get her attention.

"Oh and if you're really exhausted, you can always take a nap on the couch in the snack room," he says with a smile. "It's actually a more comfortable couch than what you'd think," he winks before turning to walk away.

Felicity waits until he is actually gone before laughing to herself.

…

As he walked out of her office he couldn't help but wonder…could it be?

Henry stopped just outside of his office door and causally looked around before he pulled his phone out. He looked through his calls to see if he'd missed any. He hadn't. That was a good sign right? If it were who he was thinking of, he would have gotten a call by now.

He scrolled through his contacts and stopped once he reached it. The name  **"** Charlotte K." appearing on his screen. He stared at it thinking.

"No way," he says quietly to himself.

If something as bad as that had happened he would have definitely gotten a call by now. He hesitantly puts his phone back into his pocket and walks into his office to continue his work.

 

**(Oliver's Office: Four hours later)**

He was typing his last report; ready to go have lunch with Felicity when he looks up and see's Thea practically dragging a tired looking Roy by the arm. He sends the report just in time before she reached his office door.

"Hey Speedy, what are you –" he begins as they enter his office.

"Don't 'Speedy' me Ollie!" She practically shouts angrily. "How could you not tell me?"

Oliver turns his attention to Roy who just shrugs.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asks confused.

"About Mia! I had to hear she went to the hospital from Roy!" She crosses her arms.

"How did Roy know?" Oliver asks staring back at him waiting for an answer.

"Blondie and Dig were talking on the phone, Dig mentioned it to me, said he might come check up on you guys, make sure everything was alright. I made the  _terrible_ mistake of letting it slip," Roy says completely annoyed with the whole situation.

Thea points back at Roy using her thumb and nods angrily, "Even Roy knew before me! How could I, your beloved baby sister," she adds in sarcastically, "–be the last one to know?"

Oliver sighs, now clearly understanding Roy's tired face. He probably hasn't stopped hearing about it since the moment she found out.

"I tried telling her it was probably nothing to get all worked up about," he begins, "but you know how she gets," Roy tells him. Oliver nods in understanding.

"I didn't call you because it wasn't anything," he says calmly. "She just has an ear infection." He gets out of his seat to stand in front of her. He places a hand on her shoulder, "If it were anything really bad, trust me, you'd definitely be the first to know."

Thea smiles. "That's all I ask for," she tells him.

Oliver can't help but chuckle.

"What?" Thea asks.

"Nothing…"

"What is it Ollie?" Thea asks again more loud this time.

"I just – I can't believe we practically have a gossip circle. Everyone knows everything. It's actually kind of nice how close we've all gotten."

"Sure you think it's funny," Roy chimes in from behind them. "You don't have a yappy girlfriend."

Thea quickly turns her gaze at him, giving him both a look of surprise and anger. Roy just gives a forced exaggerated smile.

"Try yappy Fiancé," Oliver jokes.

Thea switches her gaze between both of them, "Both of you! Shut up!" She laughs, punching both of them on the arm.

"Speaking of the yappy Fiancé, look who's here," Roy says staring at Felicity who is too busy staring at her phone to realize they are there.

Thea and Oliver both stop laughing and turn to look at Felicity who only puts her phone away once she reaches Oliver's glass office door.

"Oliver, you ready for…" She finally looks up, "What are you two doing here?" Felicity asks as the door behind her closes.

"I still don't even know," Roy says.

"I'm not talking to you." Thea pouts closing her eyes.

"Okay…" Felicity awkwardly walks past them towards Oliver, kissing his cheek, "Oliver, why is your baby sister not speaking to me? And why does Roy look like he's in some deep need for caffeine right about now?"

"She found out that Mia went to the hospital and she's  _pouting,_ " Oliver looks past her to Thea, "because you told John first and not her," he says looking back at Felicity now.

"I only told John because he called me earlier to ask how my day was going," Felicity turns to Thea trying to emphasize the fact that Thea rarely ever calls to ask about her day.

"Well…I guess I could call more often," Thea says innocently, letting her arms fall back to to her sides in the process.

"Great, can we go now?" Roy asks looking to Thea. "I want to go back to sleep."

"Back to sleep?" Felicity asks confused. "It's twelve in the afternoon."

"Although some have the luxury of going home early," Roy says exchanging looks with all three of them, "I actually have to work and I stayed until closing last night at the club."

"Hey, I offered to let you go early but you didn't want to," Thea says as she walks over to give him a peck on the lips.

Thea turns around, her and Roy's hands now connected. "We'll see you guys later," She tells them as they head for the door.

"Wait," Felicity quickly says. "Would you like to join us for lunch now that you're both here?" She asks.

Thea and Roy stop and both turn around. Felicity quickly turns to Oliver, "If that's alright with you, I mean."

"Of course," Oliver tells her. "What do you guys say?" He asks turning his attention to the young couple.

"I'm in," Thea says cheerfully. "What about you?" She turns to Roy.

"Free food, why not?" He shrugs.

They all smile and head down to the elevator. They walk across the street to a small restaurant.

**(Charlotte's Apartment)**

 

"Was it good?" Charlotte asks as she watches Connor put the last spoon full of macaroni and cheese into his mouth.

He nods and puts the spoon on the plate and pushes it forward. "Thank you," he says before getting up to go to his toy treasure box that had all of his toys in it.

Charlotte picks up the plates and puts them in the sink to clean them. As she is cleaning she feels something hit her bare feet. Charlotte looks down to see a green toy remote car. She smiles to herself as she puts the dishes to dry. She walks into the living room to sit on the floor next to Connor. He doesn't look at her as he is too busy controlling his car.

"Hey, school gets out next week right?" She asks him playing with his hair.

Connor had missed Thursday and Friday of school but he had to go back to finish the last week. She was going to go back to work this Monday but ask for hours that allowed her to take and pick Connor up from school.

"Yes." He nods.

"What do you say if after school is out I take you to that place your mom talked about in her letter?" Charlotte asks cautiously.

"The one mom said I probably wouldn't like? With the person I probably wouldn't like either?" He asks looking up at her.

"At first." She adds.

"If she knows I won't like it then why do I have to go?" He asks.

Because there is someone there you have to meet and who has to meet you."

Connor puts down his controller. "You mean my real dad?"

"What?" Is all that can leave Charlotte's mouth as she hears Connors words.

"I heard them arguing about it before we came here. Mom said that I had every right to get to know my real father. Dad said that he was scared that if I knew the truth I wouldn't see him the same, that we wouldn't be a family anymore."

Charlotte doesn't say anything. He  _knew._ She knew he was a smart, intuitive, young boy but to understand something so difficult…it amazed her.

"You wanna know something else?" He asks her, interrupting her thoughts.

"What is it?"

"I loved him like a real dad," he says. "That was enough, right?" He looks up at her.

"Of course it was honey. Adam knew you loved him very much, and I'll tell you something else."

"What?" He asks.

"If you don't like the place I take you to, even one bit, I'll bring you back with me."

"Promise." He puts his pinky up in the air.

Charlotte hooks her pinky with his. "Promise," she says.

She kisses his head. "Only on one condition though," she tells him. "You have to stay there the whole summer and you have to behave. If even by then you don't want to stay, I'll quickly come pick you up."

He nods in understanding and she kisses his head and wraps her arm around him, hugging him tightly.

 

**What did you think of that small Henry scene I added after Felicity told him about the accident in Central City? Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: A big thanks for anyone who takes the time to read, favor, follow, or review this story. It is very much appreciated! Hope you all enjoy!**

 

**(Restaurant: The Maple)**

"So Mia's alright now right?" Thea asks once again, after the waiter leaves with their orders.

"Yes Speedy," Oliver tells her once again.

Felicity sets her purse on the ground next to her. "It was only a mild ear infection. Her pediatrician said that it should clear up on its own."

"You guys still get to bring her home though, right?" Roy asks before taking a drink of soda from his cup.

"Of course they do," Thea says giving him a look. She quickly turns her attention to Oliver and Felicity sitting on the opposite side of the table. "Right?"

"Guys," Felicity begins calmly. "It was an  _ear infection_ ; of course we still get to take her home. A few days later than planned but –"

"Hey," Thea interrupts, "As long as I'm still going to be an aunt I don't mind waiting a few extra days." She smiles.

"What about you Roy?" Felicity turns her attention to him. "Are you excited about being like an uncle?" Felicity asks poking fun. Oliver tries to hold back a chuckle while Thea almost spits out her water.

"A mini Felicity running around?" Roy raises an eyebrow. "Nothing is more exciting than that," he says sarcastically.

"That's Roy Language for 'Of course I am'," Thea tells them.

Roy laughs quietly to himself, putting his arm around her chair. "She knows me so well."

"I do my best," Thea says giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

They all laugh for a while before it gets quite again. They all enjoy the warm breeze Starling City had to offer. They chose to sit at a table outside under an umbrella.

"You have to admit it's nice though," Thea finally says. "I mean the kids…the happiness...the  _normal_  lives," she adds to clarify.

"Yeah it is quite an upgrade from living out on the streets," Roy says.

"And not actually having much of a life to live," Oliver adds.

They all sigh. It goes without saying that they all somewhat misses their crime fighting days, one way or another. Felicity missed it because without criminals to take care of they all didn't have a reason to meet everyday or night. She was sure everyone else missed it because of the actual butt kicking they were capable of.

"But I mean in the end it wasn't such a bad thing," Felicity says cheerfully. "We all got to meet. We were a big crime fighting family."

"We're still a big family blondie. Just not crime fighting."

Felicity nods at Roy. "Touché"

Thea puts a finger up as she takes a drink from her water to show that she is about to speak. "Except for last week when this old lady got her bag stolen out in the middle of the street while we were walking home from a movie date, and Roy here," she points at him, "chased after the culprit," Thea teases. "Leaving his poor and defenseless girlfriend alone in the dark evil streets."

"Thea...you were trained by  _someone trained by_  the head of The League of Assassins…you're all but defenseless," Felicity tells her.

"That might be," Thea points out. "But I had to wait five minute for him to get back, when I could have done it in  _two_!" Thea jokes staring at Roy who only rolls his eyes in return.

"I think that is why you were nicknamed Speedy after all," Oliver says, "because you're  _not_  slow."

Thea gives Oliver a look, getting ready to say something when she sees the waiter coming with their food. "Food's here!" Thea warns them excitedly.

Felicity wasn't surprised, everything tended to speed up if it involved the Queen's. Even she got the special treatment when she was out on her own. As the waiter approaches their table, they all move their drinks and items to the side to make more room for their plates.

"I think I'm going to go to the little ladies room before I eat," Felicity tells them before the waiter reaches their table.

They all nod and she gets up to go inside the restaurant to the ladies restrooms.

…

Felicity gets out of the stall to wash her hands. As she is getting soap from the dispenser she sees two women in the corner whispering and looking at her using the reflection of the mirror. She continues to wash her hands trying her hardest to ignore it, hoping it will stop.

She was used to women talking about her behind her back. Talking about what a coincidence it was that she started off as a simple worker in the technology department, then to Oliver Queen's executive assistant, then to Vice President after dating Ray Palmer and now engaged to Oliver Queen. Felicity knew what she'd think if she heard of someone else in her position and she didn't blame them for thinking that but it didn't mean she couldn't get upset about it.

Soon the woman start to laugh and Felicity quickly turns off the sink and turns around to look at them. "Yes it is I," Felicity almost shouts, "Felicity Smoak, fiancé of Oliver Queen and Vice President of Queen Consolidated."

"That's not –" One of them begins.

"We weren't –" The other woman attempts before Felicity interrupts her.

"I know what it looks like but that is NOT how it happened. I  _actually_ worked my butt off to get to where I am. It is pure coincidence that the CEO and I happened to fall in love with each other," Felicity begins, taking a few steps closer and pointing an accusing finger at the women who now have a terrified expression on their face. "And I'll tell you something else –"

"Uh…Ms?" Someone says from behind her interrupting her.

Felicity quickly turns around. "What?" She shouts having become heated.

The older lady behind her takes a step back before pointing at what would have been her bottom if she was still facing the other woman. "You have a toilet seat liner hanging from your pencil skirt…"

Felicity quickly pats her butt to find that in fact a toilet seat liner was hanging. She quickly takes it off. She realizes that was the reason for the other two woman's laughter and whispers but before she has time to feel bad and apologizes the woman takes a closer look at her, as if recognizing her.

"Whoa…are you –would you happen to be Oliver Queen fiancé? You look a lot like her," the woman asks.

"No!" Felicity says before quickly going to throw away the seat liner, attempting to cover her face as much as possible in the process.

Even as Felicity is out of the restroom she still doesn't stop covering the side of her face, walking as quickly as possible without trying not to look suspicious. As she is walking she bumps into someone. Seconds later she hears something fall to the floor. Felicity quickly turns around, "Sorry!" They both say together.

Felicity realizes who it is that she bumped into. "Henry?" She questions.

"No it's my fault," he begins, bending down to pick up his phone. "I shouldn't have been walking and –" He finally looks up, "Felicity?" He says. "What are you doing here?"

Felicity quickly puts her hand down, "Oh uh…just out with Oliver, his baby sister, and her boyfriend Roy," she informs him, pointing her thumb in no direction in particular. She clears her throat. "Uh…what are you doing here?"

"Me?" He asks cleaning his phone screen with his tie. "I…uh…"

Felicity gives him a confused look when he can't get any words out. Before she can ask him what was going on someone brushes past her, almost knocking her down in the process, and hooks her arm with his.

"Hey Ms. Smoak!" The perky brunette greeted.

It was Claire, Ben's EA from the first floor. She was really nice, but tended to get into a lot of people's business. Felicity was surprised to see Henry with her.

Henry, clearly uncomfortable with Claire's closeness unhooks their arm and places both hands on her shoulders, pushing her forward a bit. "Claire, why don't you go get us a table," Henry says nicely.

"Okay!" Claire nods, clearly oblivious to Henry's attitude.

Henry shakes his body as if getting rid of some bad vibes.

"You alright there?" Felicity asks with an intrigued expression.

"Yeah," he says clearing his throat. "Just not big on PDA, especially if we're just friends."

"Doesn't like PDA?" Felicity says. "How did your wife deal with that?"

Henry chuckles. "Oh, she  _didn't_ …but I loved her so  _I_  did." He looks in no particular direction as if remembering a specific moment in his past.

"Are you two on a date?" Felicity asks acting shocked to distract him from his thoughts of the past.

"Heavens, no!" He takes a look past Felicity's shoulder and she follows his gaze to see a smiling Claire wave back at them as she sits at a table for two. "Well, at least I'm not," he adds.

"There you Are!" Felicity hears Thea's voice behind her. What's taking you so long?"

Felicity turns around and see's Thea standing behind her confused with her delay to get back to the table. "Your food is going to get cold. I was –" Thea looks past Felicity and notices Henry.

She turns her attention to him. She walks up next to Felicity and extends her hand for an introduction "Hello…and you are?" Thea asks staring at him intensely.

"Henry McClain…and you are?" He asks shaking her hand, copying her playfully.

"Thea Queen," she smiles.

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you Thea Queen," he smiles.

"Same," Thea says still not taking her eyes off of him.

Felicity quickly nudges her shoulder to stop her from staring.

"Uh…well I have to go," Henry informs them awkwardly. "Claire can't wait forever," he says giving a loud exhale of breath.

Thea follows his gaze.

"Well see you later than," Felicity says.

Henry nods and walks away. Thea is left staring in their direction and Felicity practically has to drag Thea back with her.

"Oh my God," Thea mouths recognizing Henry's attractiveness.

Felicity only laughs and nudges her shoulder.

…

Felicity quickly sits down and places a hand on Oliver's lap. ""I am so sorry," Felicity says apologetically.

"For what?" He asks confused.

"For –" Felicity begins, preparing to tell him about her super embarrassing restroom incident.

"For keeping you waiting by talking to a hunk inside of the restaurant," Thea interrupts as she places the napkin back on her lap.

"What?" Oliver and Roy say at the same time.

Felicity rolls her eyes. "She's talking about Henry. I ran into him on my way back here and we started up a conversation," Felicity tells them.

"Who's Henry?" Roy asks.

"He's the guy you hired for the project right?" Oliver asks. "The day we all got together at Diggles?"

"Yeah, that's him," she tells him.

"Is he married?" Thea asks.

"Why do you care if he's married or not?" Roy asks, sounding a tad jealous.

"I don't," Thea says with a smile, "just curious." She leans over to kiss him. "It's kind of cute when you're jealous."

Felicity swallows some of her pasta and takes a drink of her tea. "He lost his wife and child two years ago in a car accident," Felicity tells Thea.

"Oh my gosh," Thea says shocked. "He looks so young."

"He graduated three years earlier from MIT than I did so he is pretty young. That's where he met his wife actually. They graduated together."

Felicity can sense Oliver giving her a strange look but she just ignores it.

"You sure do know a lot about him for being just hiring him a few days ago," Roy says.

Is that why Oliver gave her a strange look?

"We're on the same floor. We have a lot in common," Felicity tells them, staring at Oliver.

"How about we all stop talking and chow down, that is why we came after all," Roy tells them although he was already half way done with his steak.

They all get back to their food and enjoy the time they have together, talking; even the silence between childhood stories was enjoyable.

...

"We should have dinner again, like at Dig and Lyla's," Thea says, getting out of her seat. "It was nice."

"It was actually," Roy says yawning.

Oliver extends his hand to help Felicity get up and she happily takes it. "Maybe this time Laurel and Ted will be here too," Felicity says.

"And Mia," Oliver adds.

"I talked to Laurel yesterday. She said that her and Ted should be back by the end of this week."

"Let's make it a date then," Felicity says.

Once Felicity has left a tip and Oliver goes to pay the bill, they all leave. Felicity takes one last look in Henry's direction and see's how bored to death he looks listening to Claire speak nonstop. Henry glances a look in her direction and gives an exaggerated smile. Felicity waves goodbye as Oliver puts his hand on her lower back to keep moving her forward, oblivious to her looking in another direction.

Oliver and Felicity say their goodbyes to Thea and Roy as they walk in the opposite direction.

**Maybe this chapter was boring and pointless? I don't know. Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here it is, the moment you have all been waiting for because…Guess who's back, back again? Mia's back, tell a friend! Also going to be some flashbacks on Adam and Sandra. Hope you all enjoy!**

 

**~ Two Weeks Earlier~**

She had just put Connor to sleep and she was already lying in bed, lights off, tucked underneath her sheets. Like always, Adam had quietly opened the door to their room as soon as the clock showed 10:00 PM. But this time instead of slowly walking over to his side of the bed to take off his shoes, he kept still by the door, the hallway light still turned on behind him.

He had his hand behind his head and he was looking around as if searching for something. From the dim lighting she could tell that he had been or was about to cry. She pushed herself up so she was leaning on her elbow. "Adam?" He looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, you're up?" He said surprised.

"What's wrong?" She asked once again, a yawn managing to escape her lips this time.

"Babe," he started. "I did –" he shook his head. "Something terrible happened today." He walked over to her and got on his knees next to the bed. He grabbed onto her hand tightly. He kissed it softly. "I screwed up real bad."

Sandra shifted in the bed so that her feet were hanging off, almost causing Adam to fall back. "What happened?"

He licked his dry lips and wiped his sweaty forehead. "There's something I didn't tell you when we first met."

"What?" Sandra asked, shock and confusion filling her voice.

"I told you that I worked for a small research company just outside of the city," he said slowly, as if hoping she'd know where he was headed with his next statement.

Sandra nodded, remembering their first date. Despite the atmosphere a smile still managed to escape. He had bought her a dozen roses that day.

"Well…I lied," he said in a faint voice.

Sandra quickly took her hand out of his grip and he shut his eyes tightly, scared to look her in the eyes. "What do you mean you lied?"

"I do work for a sort of Research Company…but what we do is more complicated than that…"

"What do you mean?" She paused "Adam…you're not making any sense!"

"Sandra I – "

She shook her head recognizing that tone of voice. That was going to be the part where he would try to apologize and belittle the whole situation, trying to blow it off. "No! You can't just come in here and tell me that you lied to me this whole time and not expect me to ask questions!"

He finally opened his eyes again and looked at her with those eyes that made it hard for her to be mad at him but they couldn't work this time, she wouldn't let them. "I work for a company called A.R.G.U.S. and we're a research group that deals with the worlds most wanted criminals….criminals so terrible that no one even knows they exist."

"What?" She said so softly that it came out almost as a whisper. Her eyes were beginning to water. The man she had fallen in love with and had a life with lied to her from the very start.

He got up and groaned in frustration while scratching the back of his head. "Babe," he started, going over to their closet and taking clothes out. "We gotta get out of here. We have to get out of town!"

Sandra quickly got up and stood behind him, shaking her head. "What do you mean? We can't just leave town out of nowhere! What about my job at the café? What about Connor's school?" She almost shouted. He was demanding things without any explanations and she was confused but fury was filling her insides more than anything.

He threw down the piles of clothes he had so quickly collected on his arm and turned to look at her. He put a tight grip on both her shoulders. "Sandra," he shouted. "You don't understand! We do  _NOT_ have a choice!"

She grabbed the wrist of his hands and slowly puts them down with hers. "Let me understand than…tell me what happened," she pleaded.

Before she knew what was happening his eyes were beginning to fill with tears and he slowly began falling to his knees. She slowly followed after him so that their eyes could be in direct view of each other. He placed a hand on her cheek and wiped away a tear she didn't even realized was there. "We were undercover and it was supposed to be simple. Infiltrate their organizations, get them to trust me, and I did."

"Than what happened? Why do we have to leave?"

"There was a test," he said remembering something terrible. "An initiation," he looked up at her, "In order to officially join them I had to kill the family of a man who betrayed them."

Sandra quickly got her hands away from him and scooted back instantly.

"No Sandy! I…I didn't do it," he said beginning to break down again. He crawled on his knees to hug her tightly as if not to lose her. She tried to fight it, hitting his chest. She would have screamed but she didn't want to wake up her son.

"I couldn't do it," he said but his voice was so broken that it was hard to understand. "…I couldn't kill his wife and daughter, let alone make him sit there and watch. That's inhumane! Do you really believe me to be capable of something like that?"

As his grip on her loosened, she took the opportunity to get out of his arms.

"Sandra," he cried out as she got up, her back facing his.

"I don't know anything anymore," she said whipping away her last tear. "How could you wake up next to me every morning for the last ten years and not feel remorse for lying to me this whole time? How am I supposed to trust you when our whole relationship…our whole mirage has been based off of a lie?"

Adam got up and turned her around so he could see her beautiful face once again. Even if after this they would no longer be together, he still needed them to be safe. They would still and always be his family. "I lied to keep you guys safe," he told her.

She turned her head and gave a low short laugh. She turned to look at him. "If you wanted to keep us safe then you shouldn't have talked to me, never chased after me…never let me fall in love with a killer," she said it in such a loathing manner that she could tell it hurt him to hear it just as much as it hurt her to say it . She didn't mean it though, she didn't mean any of it as it came out of her mouth but she was hurt and didn't know what else to do but hurt him right back.

A look of pure pain appeared on his face. "You don't mean that…"

"Tell me what you did. I need to know what you did Adam…so we can fix this," she said referring to themselves. If she was going to be able to forgive him, she needed to know everything that happened, everything he did.

He took a deep breath, nodding in understanding, a look of relief flashing across his face. But the relief slowly went away as he began to remember what had happened next. "I shot one of the men standing next to him instead but by the time I realized what I had just done it was too late. I had to hurry and get the family out. Shots were going off everywhere but my team came in to back me up and I managed to get out." He gives her a pleading look, asking for forgiveness. "The first thing I did was come here to get you and Connor…my family.

"Who did you shoot?" Sandra asked

"The boss's son…they're going to come after me Sandra…after us. We have to get out of here or they'll do to me what I didn't let them do to that man and his family."

All Sandra could do was shake her head once again in denial. Their lives were completely ruined. The peaceful life she had managed to build for herself and her son was gone in a matter of seconds and all because of the man she had fallen in love with.

He grabbed a hold of both her hands and stared at her waiting for an answer, begging for one.

She takes a deep breath. "Okay."

**~End of Flashback~**

 

"Ms. Smoak?" The woman asks. "Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Felicity takes her eyes off of the little blond girl sitting on her lap who was busy pulling her hair. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Oh, it's alright," Lexy says. "I can see that Mia's got you quite entertained."

Felicity looks at Mia and smiles. "Yeah, she does."

Lexy nods setting her cup of tea back on coffee table in front of her. "Like I was saying, I'll be checking on how everything is going every few days or so." She gets out of her seat. "Just some random checkups to make sure everything is going well."

Both Oliver and Felicity get up after her. Felicity places Mia on her hip.

"Thank you so much for everything," Oliver says as they lead her back to the door.

"No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job," she says looking down at Mia and softly pinching her cheek. "This seems like a nice and loving environment to raise a child in. I'm excited for the both of you," she says. "Just remember, this is only for two weeks," she reminds them.

"We know," Felicity says, "but we are sure it will turn into a life time." She places a kiss on the top of Mia's head.

"I hope so," she smiles. "I'll see you soon."

They shake hands goodbye and just like that Mia was theirs for the next two weeks. The house is silent with just the three of them still standing next to the door.

"You ready for this?" Oliver asks smiling down at the woman who has become his everything.

"No more than you are," She laughs.

…

Felicity slowly begins to wake up. She looks around, eyes still half closed, groggy from her nap. It is only when she realizes she is laying in their bed and the TV is still on that she looks next to her. Mia is comfortably placed in the middle of their bed, still sleeping, Oliver also sleeping comfortably next to her. A smile quickly appears on her face when she notices that instead of a pillow, Mia is using Oliver's forearm as one.

She takes a moment to watch as their chest rise and fall, almost in sync, before quietly getting out of bed. She finds the remote on the other side of the bed and turns off the TV and as soon as she does her phone begins to vibrate. Felicity practically runs and leaps to her phone so the sound of the vibration against the hardwood bedside table doesn't wake up her beautiful, and handsome sleeping angels.

"Hola?" She says in a low voice before she can even think.  _Wow Dora really does teach you Spanish_ she thinks to herself. "Hello," she says right after, correcting her languages.

"What was that about?" She hears Henry ask followed by a chuckle.

"I was watching Dora the Explorer," She explains as she leaves the room as quietly as possible.

"Which leads me to my next question, why was a grown woman, as yourself, watching Dora the Explorer?"

Felicity's smile appears once again. "Because guess who we just brought home with us a couple of hours ago," she says as she makes her way into the living room to sit down.

"Really?" He says realizing right away who she is talking about. "You said a few more days but I never thought today."

"I know. We went to go pick her up this morning. The three of us fell asleep watching TV. It's been nice," she tells him. "So what's up? Did something happen at work?"

Not every time that they talked on the phone was because of work but she always still asked to make sure everything was running smoothly even when she wasn't there. Over the last few days she and Henry had become closer and friendlier with each other. They were comfortable around each other to have more than just work related conversations with one another. It was nice having a friend who understood her interests and knew them well; she hadn't been this close to anyone in this way since Barry. It was nice.

"The board wants to have another meeting," he tells her. "but this time they actually want you there talking to them," he adds.

Felicity had wanted the next few days to be less filled with work and more filled with family time but she didn't have a choice. After all, she was the one who started the idea.

"Do you want me to set up a meeting for tomorrow around 10AM? So you can go home right after?" Henry asks interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah that works just fine," she tells him.

"Alright than, I'll make the appointment."

Before he can hang up Felicity gets a brilliant idea, one that works for everyone. "Wait!" She says quickly. "Actually, see if they would like to have the meeting here, in the mansion, and instead of 10AM just make it for the afternoon so we can all have lunch during the meeting."

"I like the way you think Felicity Smoak," he says before hanging up.

Felicity gives herself a pat on the back as she makes her way into the kitchen for a snack. "I like the way I think too," she says to herself.

 

**(Charlottes Apartment)**

"Did you pack your tooth brush?" Charlotte shouts from the bathroom as she brushes her hair.

"Yes Aunt Charlotte," Connor shouts back from the kitchen as he enjoys a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"And all your favorite toy?"

"Yes Aunt Charlotte," he says once again in the same voice.

She puts her brush down and walks into the kitchen. She notices his now empty plate and she picks it up and washes it quickly. Once she's done she sits back down across from him.

"So you have everything –"

"Yes Aunt Charlotte," he nods. "I also double checked before I sat down and ate my sandwich."

She smiles. "I just want to make sure you have everything you need while you're there."

He nods in understanding. He really hasn't spoken about anything that was about to happen and Charlotte thought it was probably best not to push it.

"So you're ready to leave first thing tomorrow morning? It's almost a three hour train ride so you can always just take a nap. If you get to tired."

"Do you really think I'll like it there?"

Charlotte shrugs. "He lives in a big house, I'm sure he has plenty of things for you to play with so you don't get bored."

"What's he like?" He asks. "My real dad, I mean," he adds in to clarify.

Charlotte is a little taken back from the sudden interest. "Um…" Her words suddenly won't come out.

"You don't know what he's like and you're sending me to his house for the summer?" He asks, an ounce of shock and nervousness coming out with the question.

She leans farther into the table. "I don't know what he's like but your mother obviously believed he's a good person or else she wouldn't have wanted you to spend time with him right? Because your mom always wanted what was best for you, right?"

"Yes, but If he was such good person than why didn't my mom stay with him?" He asks.

Charlotte was beginning to get nervous with all the questions she didn't have the answers to. She gets up. "You wanna go to the park?" She asks him whipping her sweaty palms on the side of her jeans. "It's nice outside. We should go to the park!"

Connor stares at her for a second realizing exactly what she was trying to do but like always he didn't want to put her on the spot so he just agreed. "Yeah, let's go to the park. Can I get ice-cream while we're there?"

Charlotte laughs and pats him on the back as he walks past her. "Whatever you want buddy…whatever you want."

They leave soon after to enjoy a walk through the park and some chocolate ice-cream.

**Guys, guess who's going to show up at the mansion unexpectedly, hopefully next chapter? Leave some reviews ya'll. Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry to disappoint most of you but there is quite a large amount of Henry in this chapter. I know a lot of people don't like him but I promise he isn't a bad person and when I came up with his character it was never to become an obstacle for Oliver and Felicity but for a specific purpose. Of course there's going to be some Jealous Oliver but that's probably about it! Hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!**

 

**~Two and a half weeks earlier~**

Like always Adam grabbed two bottles of beers from his fridge and gave one to Henry. They both sat down in front of the couch and Adam turned on the TV to continue watching the Football game they had been watching at the gym.

Adam used the small towel around the back of his neck to wipe some sweat off before taking a drink out of the bottle. "So are you leaving at the end of this week?" He asked.

"No, tomorrow afternoon…" Henry said slowly and calmly. He hadn't told anyone when he was leaving, just that he was.

Adam quickly took his attention off of the game and turned all his attention to Henry. "What?" He asked completely shocked. "How are you getting all your things out there by tomorrow?"

Henry gave an awkward laugh. "Actually, I had all my things sent out there already. I've been sleeping on the floor for the past two days. Everything is already set in my new apartment."

"But Charlotte's not getting back until Friday night," Adam pointed out.

Henry took a sip of his beer. "I know that."

"You're not going to say goodbye to her?"

Henry shook his head. "No, I don't want to do the whole awkward exchange with her."

Adam gave him a strange look. "But she's still your sister-in-law."

"I know she is, but ever since that day…" Henry stopped to remember it, "we just haven't really been on talking terms. I mean, we talk and stuff when it's all four of us. That's the only time we ever even see each other."

"It's been two years since then, don't you think it's time you two patched things up?" Adam asked him.

Henry gave him a stupid look. " _Exactly,_ it's been two years, if we were ever going to patch things up it  _should_  have happened by now." He took a large exhale of breath. "She doesn't want to patch things up and who am I to force her? Besides, I think it's better this way."

"Takes two," Adam laughed. "So where does this sudden decision lead you? Where are you going to work? You better not get fired this time!" He told him, referring to what happened to him a few weeks ago at Grant's United.

Henry couldn't help but smile at remembering what he had done to get fried. "There's a company that I've wanted to work at ever since I got out of MIT but I could never apply there because I knew Margret would never even consider moving far away from her sister," he said putting his beer down on the coffee table in front of them. "Plus, there's someone there I really need and want to meet," he added.

"Who?"

Henry smiled and gave a small shrug, "Just someone I promised an old friend I'd watch over for them when I had the chance."

"Cool," Adam said, "So what company is it?"

"It's Queen Consolidated, maybe you've heard of it?" Henry asked. "It's not that far from here, only a couple of hours away. It's in Starling City."

"Starling City?" He asked quickly, shocked.

"Yeah, they have an amazing technology department that I'd love to work in. I was looking through some of their project ideas and I applied. I have an interview with the head of the department in a little less than three weeks," Henry told him.

"Queen Consolidated?" Adam asked, still having the look of shock on his face.

"Yeah, you heard of it?" Henry asked after seeing his reaction.

Suddenly his facial expression changed and he tried to hide his shock. "No, uh…it's just when Sandra lived there she knew…" he paused and looked past him, thinking.

Henry stared at him. "She knew what?" He asked trying to push him to continue his sentence.

Adam shook out of the haze that he was in and stared back at him. "She knew the family."

"Really?" Henry asked, now the shocked one. "Do you think she could put in a good word for me or something? It would be really helpful."

"No, I don't think so," Adam said, the atmosphere around them changing. "She really didn't leave on a good note with them."

"What happened? How could Sandra ever leave anyone on a bad note?" Henry asked surprised.

Adam shifted in his seat uncomfortably, trying to think. After a few seconds he finally turned to look back at Henry. "I'm going to tell you something but under no circumstances can you let Sandra know I told you. No one knows what I'm about to tell you besides me and her." His voice becomes serious. "Not even Charlotte," he added to emphasize just how secret it is. Sandra told Charlotte  _everything._

"Okay…" Henry said a little confused.

"Before Sandra met me," he began. "Before she even moved here…she had a thing with the son of the CEO of Queen Consolidated – "

Suddenly Henry's expression became a shocked one and his eyes widened a little. "She had a thing with Oliver Queen? The  _now_  CEO of Queen Consolidated?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, him." He looked around even though it was just the two of them and leaned in a few centimeters. "Well, even if it was just a onetime thing…Sandra became pregnant."

"You don't mean…"

Adam nodded once again, already knowing what he was about to assume. "Connor isn't my biological son. Oliver Queen is Connor's real father."

Henry took all the seconds he needed to let in this important and yet sudden fact set in. The longer he thought about it the more he couldn't understand why Adam told him of all people.

"So why did you tell me?" Henry finally asked.

Adam gave a slight shrug. "I don't know, because I was wondering if maybe you could me what he's like. I mean, you're bound to meet and interact with him right?"

"Um – "

Before Henry could answer they hear the sound of the door opening behind them and he quickly shut his mouth. Henry turned his head to look behind them just as quickly as Adam got up off the couch. Henry saw Sandra walking in with a handful of grocery bags and Adam quickly got up to take the bags from her. As Adam walked into the kitchen to set the bags on the kitchen table, Henry gets up and Sandra takes the opportunity to greet him.

"Hey Henry," She smiled, "Did you guys just get back from the gym?"

"Yeah, we did a few minutes ago," he told her as they walked into the kitchen together.

She began to take things out of the bags. "You want to stay for dinner? I'm going to make some lasagna," she asked turning her attention back to him for a slight second.

Henry rubbed his stomach. "I would love nothing more," he smiled, "but I have some last minute errands to run before I leave tomorrow morning."

Sandra stopped and gave him a look of confusion catching onto his last few words. "You're leaving tomorrow morning? So soon? I feel like just yesterday you told us you were even moving."

"Yeah," Henry laughed. "I can only go so many days without a job."

"That's true," she agreed.

"Well, I have to go now, actually. It was nice seeing you even if it was just for a few minutes," Henry said as he walked to her for a quick hug.

"It was nice seeing you too," she said back.

Henry walked over to Adam who was by the fridge getting another beer. "About before," he said referring to what he was about to say before Sandra got home. "I won't work that closely with him but I promise I'll try," he told him.

Adam nodded and took his hand out for a goodbye. "Thank you, bro. I appreciate it," he said before they bumped chests.

"Don't forget to call," Sandra said as he walked toward the door. "You know how much Connor loves his Uncle Henry," she smiled.

Henry nodded and smiled one last time before walking out of their apartment for the last time, shutting the door behind him.

 

**(Queen Consolidated: Present Time)**

"Ms. Smoak? I'm sorry I just put Mia to sleep. You took longer than I anticipated and she was beginning to get irritated," the young lady tells Felicity as she walks through the door. "Do you need help with those?" She asks when she notices the bags Felicity had been holding in her hand.

Felicity sets down her purse on the small table next to the door. "No, I'm good. Thank you Bethany. I'm just going to take them into the kitchen for Ricardo to use."

"I could have gotten the items for you," she says sincerely.

Felicity smiles. "I know you could have but I like doing things on my own as well, you know."

Bethany nods before following Felicity into the kitchen. As soon as they walk in Ricardo smiles up at them. "Bien venidas a mi casa senoritas bonitas!" he says enthusiastically.

Felicity gives him a strange look as she sets the bags down on the kitchen island and Bethany tries to hold back a chuckle. Felicity turns her attention to her and lefts an eyebrow in question.

"Welcome to my home pretty ladies," Bethany tells her when she sees that Felicity's expression still doesn't change she further explains, "I took Spanish all four years of high school."

"So did I," Felicity points out. "And all I understood in that sentence was 'mi casa'.

"We're all different," Ricardo tells her.

"Agreed," Felicity and Beth say at the same time.

All three of them laugh. Both of them had only just started working for them this morning but from the moment Felicity met them she knew they would fit right into their home.

…

" _I know_ ," Oliver said for like the 5th time in the last minute, " _And I'm sorry but the client I was with would not stop talking!"_

"It's fine, Oliver," Felicity tells him calmly. "Just maybe get here before dinner is served?" She kind of asked.

" _I'll try even though I should be home in around five to ten minutes. I have some papers to take back to my office real quick,"_ He informs her.

"Okay. I love you, drive safe!" She tells him.

"I love you too. See you in a few minutes," he says before hanging up.

She gives a big huff of air. She really needed Oliver here. He was good at talking and charming people. She was good at the talking part but just before the charming part there was a tiny space where she would manage to botch it up by babbling.

"Everything okay?" She heard someone has behind her.

"Yeah," she says when she turns around and realizes it's only Henry. "Oliver is running a little late, that's all."

"He'll be here," he reassures her and she smiles.

"Um…Ms. Smoak?" Felicity turns around once she hears Beth's voice calling her name and Henry also turns his attention to her. "Sorry to interrupt but there is someone here looking for Mr. Queen," she informs her.

"Well, did you tell them he isn't here at the moment?" She asks.

Felicity notices that Beth seems a little surprised, but of what? She nods, "Yes, but she said she wouldn't be leaving until she spoke with him."

Felicity nods to her and she walks away. Felicity closes her eyes tightly and takes a deep breath. "I'll be right back. Do you mind keeping the guest entertained until I get back? It should literally only be like a minute."

"Of course," he smiles, "I got this." With that he goes to join a group of investors by the window.

Felicity walks to the door area and sees a young woman, probably no older than she, standing next to the closed door. Felicity walks over to her. "Hello, I'm Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen's fiancé," she says extending her hand to greet her.

It is at that specific moment that Felicity notices the little boy hiding behind her and when he sees her he only moves farther away to hide himself better. Felicity turns her attention back to the woman who hesitantly shakes her hand. "I'm here to speak to your fiancé, Mr. Queen, and I won't leave until I see him," she says coldly.

Felicity is slow to take her hand away from hers, suspicious and curious as to what a woman with a child would be doing looking for Oliver at such a random time.

"He isn't here right now. I can leave him a message or tell him you stopped by," she says faking her politeness, given the woman's prior lack of emotions. "May I ask why you want to speak to him so badly Ms…?"

"Charlotte," the young woman tells her. "Charlotte Kean and what I need to speak with him about is not something that can be left a message."

"I can call him real quick if it's that important and tell him to hurry, although he should be home any minute," Felicity says getting her phone out from the pocket of her dress, quickly finding his contact and putting the phone to her ear. "What should I tell him the topic is about?" She asks staring at Charlotte.

Felicity hears as the phone begins to ring on the other side.

"Tell him it's about his son," she says without any facial expression or emotion.

On the other line she hears Oliver's voice as he picks up. " _Hello? Felicity? I just left the office I should-"_

Before she can hear him finish his sentence the phone is already falling to the ground.

She was still so much in shock that she didn't hear the light footsteps coming from the living room. "Felicity, Ben wants to know how long it's…Charlotte?" Felicity turns around to see a shocked Henry standing a few feet behind her.

"Henry? What are you doing here?" The woman asks just as shocked.

Felicity can't move. She can't react.  _Son_?  _She did say the word 'son', right?_  She looks back at the little boy who was still half hiding behind Charlotte. What did he have to do with Oliver?

"Uncle Henry!" The little boy yelled excitedly before running to him, scraping Felicity's arm in the process.

Felicity turns around and watches as Henry bends down far enough so that the boy can jump into his arms. Henry picks him up in a breeze. "Hey kid, how you been? You've gotten so tall." Henry smiles at him. "Where are your parents?" He asks looking around.

Felicity notices how suddenly the boy's happy and excited attitude about seeing his 'Uncle Henry' has slowly turned into a painful frown. Felicity takes it that Henry notices too because then he puts him down and looks to Charlotte. Connor runs back over to her side and Henry makes his way next to Felicity. He looks at her but doesn't say anything. He knows something's wrong.

"Charlotte, where are they?" He asks her from across the room.

Quickly the woman's eyes begin to get wet and she turns her face in an attempt to hide it. For the first time she is showing some kind of emotion and the last type Felicity thought she'd see on her was grief.

"Oh my God," Henry whispers. "It was them wasn't it? Adam and Sandra were the young couple that died in a car accident, leaving their eleven year old son orphaned…"

Felicity turns to look at him. She told him that. She had mentioned it to him that day Mia got sick. But she never would have thought…

"That's why I'm here," Charlotte tells him but her eyes turn to Felicity's.

Henry follows her gaze and finds himself looking at Felicity as well. Once he realizes what is going on he turns to look back at Charlotte. "Charlotte...you can't just –" he says as he begins to walk towards her but before he can finish she interrupts him.

"I'm here to see Oliver Queen, Henry…stay out of it. It has to do with Oliver Queen, Connor's real father and no one else but him."

"That can't be true," Felicity almost shouts, causing all three to turn their attention back to her.

"Felicity – " Henry attempts.

"No!" She tells him and takes a step forward. "That can't be true! Oliver…he would have –he wouldn't keep something as important as a son from me," she informs them.

Charlotte wipes her eyes. "He was never told."

"What?" Felicity asks quietly, confused.

"Oliver Queen is not aware that he has a son," she says more clearly.

Felicity is on the verge of almost collapsing when she suddenly feels Henry's hand on her shoulder. "Felicity, I think you need to sit down and take some time to process all of this – "

She looks at him. "I don't need to sit down," she interrupting him. She turns her attention back to Charlotte, "because there is nothing to process. She is lying!"

Henry is about to open his mouth when suddenly the door practically slams open, barely missing the two strangers in the process. When Felicity turns her head toward the door she sees Oliver quickly walking towards her. He seems completely oblivious to anyone else around them but her.

He puts one hand on her arm, taking a second to perform a visual examination to make sure she was physically fine. "Are you okay?" He asks concern filling his voice. "I heard the phone drop and suddenly the call ended so I raced down here."

When she doesn't reply and instead only stares at him, he realizes Henry is a few feet behind them. It is also at this precious moment that he finally notices the woman and the little boy still standing by the door.

"Oliver," Felicity says softly, a tear escaping her eye. Oliver turns to look back at her just as she takes his hand away from her arm. She closes her eyes tightly trying to stop more of the tears she knew were coming.

"Felicity?" He says but she can barely hear him, he sounds so far away from her now. "What's going on?"

 

**This chapter was longer than most and I was thinking of stopping right when Charlotte showed up but I couldn't do that to you guys!;) Please leave reviews! Thanks for all the love and support so far, means a lot! Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	13. chapter 13

**A/N: Idk some people may think Felicity was OC in the last chapter and maybe even in this one but she is just in shock, like Oliver, because everything is happening almost at once. So if you don't like her reaction I apologize but that's pretty much how the scene played out in my head. Hope you all enjoy either way!**

 

All three of them have been sitting down around the kitchen table in pure silence for the last five minutes. No one knows what to say. Henry had taken on the task of making sure the investors and board members left completely unaware of the real situation. Soon after everyone had left he did everyone the favor of taking Connor outside to the garden, leaving Charlotte alone to explain everything to them.

Oliver leans over the table so that his elbows are resting on it and proceeds to place both hands behind his head. A few seconds later he begins to shake his head. "This can't be possible," Oliver finally says, although more to himself than anyone else. He looks up at Charlotte, who was sitting across from him. Felicity had decided to sit on the other side of the table, between them.

"Why didn't she tell me?" He asks for the second time. Felicity can see his eyes beginning to get red from trying to hold back the tears.

"I don't know," Charlotte tells him, staying calm. "But maybe this will explain it." She takes a letter out of her back pocket and places it on the table.

"What is that?" Felicity accidently asks out loud.

Charlotte turns her gaze to her. "A letter that Sandra gave to me to give to Oliver in case something happened to her. She also left one for me, which was what brought me here." She turns her attention away from Felicity and back at Oliver. "She wanted me to tell you about Connor. She wanted you to know the truth, Oliver. She wanted you to get the chance to meet your son, to get to know him, a chance that she had always regretted taking away from you."

"So your purpose was to tell Oliver about his son. Now what? You're just going to take him away again?" Felicity asks becoming suddenly frustrated. She couldn't really be thinking of telling Oliver he has a son only to take him away again, right?

Charlotte shakes her head. "No, that wasn't all I was supposed to do," she tells them. She turns to look at Oliver who was still looking at her in dismay. "When you're ready…" She turns back to Felicity. "When you're both ready, Sandra wanted Connor to come live here, with his real father."

"What?" Felicity and Oliver manage to say at once.

A sad look appears on her face. "I love Connor like a nephew but no matter how much I wish it was true, he doesn't belong with me. He belongs with his real father."

"I don't even know him. Wh– how could she keep something as important as a child from me all this time?" Oliver shouts as he quickly gets out of his seat to stand. How could Sandra have taken away eleven years away from him?

"Oliver calm down!" Felicity says loudly. She understood how frustrating and upsetting this must be for him but shouting or arguing about the facts was not going to get anyone anywhere.

"Your mother paid her to leave you alone, to lie and say she lost the baby. She knew you weren't ready or thrilled to be a parent so she took the money and left. You were still in a relationship and Sandra knew you weren't going to leave your girlfriend for her." Charlotte says plainly.

Felicity quickly turns to Oliver as she hears the last statement. He cheated on Laurel more than once, before he went missing with Sara, Laurel's sister of all people? He doesn't look at her although he can feel her stare. His silence says it all.

"What do you mean she paid her to leave?" He asks slowly turning his attention back to Charlotte. "My mother would never do that," he tells her getting upset at her accusation.

Charlotte nods, not being surprised by his lack of trust in her words. She takes out another letter and slides it over to Oliver. He picks it up and looks at it. "This is addressed to you," he points out.

"Yes," she nods. "But it answers some of your questions. Read the first paragraph."

He stares at her for a few seconds before turning his attention to the letter in his hand and reading it. He slowly begins to sit down in shock as he continues to read. He covers his mouth as if trying to hold back a shout. After a few seconds his hands slowly falls to the table and he exhales. He places the letter back on the table and buries his forehead in his hands. "I can't believe it."

"What is it?" Felicity asks before reaching over to grab the letter, she looks at Charlotte for approval to read it and she nods.

As Felicity reads she realizes where Oliver's shock is coming from. Moira had paid Sandra two million dollars to start a new life and tell Oliver she had miscarried. She hadn't known Oliver's mother that well and quite frankly hadn't really liked her since the day she threated her when she found out about Mia's true origins but even so. Felicity couldn't believe she would keep something as precious as a child a secret from her own son.

Felicity puts down the letter and glances at Oliver before she turns her attention back to Charlotte, realizing and taking into consideration something she had said earlier. "You said she left you the letter to give to Oliver in case  _something happened._ " It is at this moment that Oliver turns his attention to Charlotte curious as to where Felicity is going with this. "Does that mean that she knew something might end up happening to her? Is that why she wrote the letters? Because she knew she was in danger of dying?"

"What exactly happened to her?" Oliver asks, becoming suspicious.

"A car accident happened," Charlotte says coldly.

"What  _really_ happened?" He pushes. "There's no way she could have known a car accident would happen to her," he says shaking his head. "No, she had to have known something might happen to her."

Charlotte shuts her eyes for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and opening them again. "Someone was after Adam," she finally admits.

"Who's Adam, exactly?" Felicity asks.

"He was Sandra's husband and Connors legal father."

"She got remarried?" Oliver asks shocked.

Charlotte nods. "Yes, about a year after she moved to Central City, before she met me, which was why I didn't know Adam wasn't Connor's real father."

"Why were they after him?" Felicity asks her.

Charlotte is silent for a few seconds. "I don't know," she says softly.

"How could you not know if –"

"Oliver…" Felicity shakes her head at him, warning him to stop. It was obvious by her tone that Charlotte really had no idea, and if she did, it was still too soon for her to talk about it.

Felicity gives him an angry stare and he only stares back at her completely defeated. She turns to look at Charlotte who was completely unfazed, as not hearing anything. "What do you mean you don't know?" Felicity asks calmly. "What do you know?"

"I don't know anything about  _why_  it happened," Charlotte says and before Oliver can call her out on her short reply she continues, "I just know that people…very bad people were after Adam for something he did and Sandra was willing to follow him anywhere."

"Do you know what he did?" Felicity asks. He had to have done something terrible if people were after him to kill him

"Sandra didn't tell me anything besides that. She didn't really have much time to explain anything. She barely had a chance to tell me about Oliver Queen before she was out the door," Charlotte tells them.

Felicity can tell by the way she speaks and her facial expression that she is telling the truth. She really didn't know anything besides what she was told. "I'm sorry for your loss," Felicity finally says.

"Yeah…" Charlotte says softly.

"So what's your plan?" Oliver asks, changing the atmosphere.

Both Charlotte and Felicity turn to look at Oliver who had been patiently listening to them speak. He was almost frozen like a statue with a cold stare directed at Charlotte.

"I already told you what Sandra wanted me to do and –"

"No I mean, what do  _you_  want?"

"Oliver," Felicity warns, thinking she knows where he's headed with that question and right now was not the time to really be arguing over something like that.

Charlotte crosses her arms and slightly tips her head. "What are you implying?" She asks.

Felicity shakes both of her hands. "He's not trying to imply anything," she tells Charlotte. She turns her head to Oliver and her calm expression quickly turns to a mad face as soon as she reaches his eyes. "Right Oliver?" Felicity asks in such a way that makes it possible for him to understand that if he answers wrong he's in big trouble.

Oliver stares at her without saying anything and it is silent for about a millisecond before Felicity suddenly hears a loud noise. On instinct Felicity flinches and is about to jump out of her seat when she realizes the loud noise was only Charlotte slamming her hands on the table. She is now standing up, leaning over the table, her hands still connected with the table.

"Of course he's trying to imply something, aren't you?" She says loudly, her voice filled with irritation.

"I –" Oliver begins but Felicity interrupts him.

"He wasn't –" Before Felicity can even finish a sentence, Charlotte gives her a look that makes her shut up right away.

Charlotte turns to look back at Oliver. "Do you really think I'd come all this way to tell you the truth about your son just so I could get money out of it?" She asks angry. "Why would I leave a boy, who I love like a son, with someone I don't even know just to get money out of it? Do you really think money is anywhere on my mind right now, after everything that has happened? Not everyone is out to get you!"

Both Oliver and Felicity are in shock by the sudden but well deserved outburst. Before either of them can think of what to say Charlotte is speaking again. "My best friend died… someone who was a sister to me _died_." And suddenly her voice is no longer filled with anger or irritation but mournful. It was only when she happened to be speaking or thinking of her friend that she showed emotions. "And I  _swear to God_  that if it wasn't for her asking me to do to do this as one last favor, I would never even think of bringing Connor here."

It is silent for a really long time until Oliver finally takes a deep breath. "I just want to make sure your intention isn't to use him –"

"My intention Mr. Queen," Charlotte interrupts harshly, "was to make Sandra's last wish come true. I was going to leave him here over the summer and if in those two and a half months he still didn't want to stay here, than I'd know there was no hope for you to work as a family and I would take him back with me," she pauses to take a deep breath. "but now that I've seen your reaction, I don't know what to do."

Oliver is baffled by her statement. "How am I supposed to react when after eleven years I find out I have a son? Especially when the  _only_ reason I get to find out is because his mother died and you had no other choice but to tell me," Oliver accuses.

"I know that," Charlotte says becoming calm, "and I'm sorry it happened this way but there isn't anything we can do."

"I know that! It's just– right now isn't a good time!" Oliver turns to look at Felicity. "Everything was going fine. We had everything, we just got –"

"Well, I'm sorry that Adam and Sandra's death are inconvenient for  _you_ ," Charlotte interrupts quickly causing Felicity to look away from Oliver.

"That's not what I'm trying to say," Oliver tells her.

Charlotte shakes her head, "Connor doesn't need you, and he doesn't even  _know_  you. He already had one father; he doesn't need to feel the pain of losing another one!" Charlotte spits out.

Felicity understood Charlotte's position. Her best friend just died and if anyone understood that pain it would be Oliver. She just found out that she has to leave a boy she loves with someone she doesn't even know enough to trust. Felicity understood her frustration but she still didn't like how she was handling the situation and not at least attempting to try to understand Oliver's position as well.

"I just need more time to process this," Oliver tells her.

Felicity looks up at him confused.  _What does that mean?_

"How much time?" Charlotte asks. "Enough time so that you can –"

"He'll do it," Felicity interrupts so quietly that she has to look up at them to make sure they heard her.

Charlotte only looks at her shocked that she has finally spoken after minutes of silence.

"Felicity, what are you saying?" Oliver asks making his way towards her but before he can take a second step she looks up at him, disappointment in her eyes. "Don't," she tells him and he freezes. He has a look that Felicity hasn't seen since that day at the airport.

"He'll do it," Felicity repeats looking at Charlotte.

Charlotte slowly uncrosses her arms, giving her a sympathetic look, knowing how hard this must be to understand and accept even more so than it may be for Oliver. "I appreciate the effort Ms. Smoak…but this isn't really a choice you can make. This is a decision only he can make."

"I know that," Felicity says getting up, placing the palms of her hands on the table, "but he's going to do it because that's who he is."

Felicity gives Oliver a quick glance before turning back to Charlotte who is paying close attention to her words. "He's going to do it because the Oliver Sandra knew is not the same one you see right now. Oliver has changed a lot since then; he's done amazing, incredible things. You have no idea what he's been through, what he's lost, how he's grown. But  _I_ do. I know him better than anyone," she looks at Oliver, "at least I thought I did," she says softly.

With her last statement Oliver looks as though someone has just stabbed him through the chest. Charlotte realizes it and gives him a few seconds to gather himself. "So what do you say Mr. Queen? Can Connor stay or should I take him and leave?" Charlotte asks but this time her voice is different. It isn't filled with hate towards him like when she first got here. She sounds as though she is willing to accept anything that is said to her.

Her job was to tell Oliver and give him the chance to get to know his own son and that's what she's just done but it wasn't up to her whether he took that chance or not.

Oliver takes his eyes away from Felicity and nods at Charlotte. "Of course I'll do it," he says but it is obvious she doesn't believe his words. "Leave him here over the summer. Let him choose whether he leaves or stays after that. I promise I'll take care of him and get to know him," he reassures her.

"We'll take care of him," Felicity adds.

It is when he hears Felicity say 'we' that he looks a little less hurt. Charlotte nods. "Okay," she says. She walks over to Felicity and extends her hand to say goodbye. Felicity stares at it for a second before finally shaking her hand but before she can let go Charlotte leans in so that her chin is almost resting on her shoulder. "I am so sorry. You don't deserve this," she says softly so only Felicity can hear.

Charlotte lets go of her hand and Felicity tries her hardest to hold back the tears she's been holding in for the past hour. Charlotte stands a few feet away from Oliver and rubs the palm of her hands on her jeans and shrugs. "I guess I'm going to go say bye to Connor now," she tells him. Oliver nods and she walks away, giving Felicity one last small sympathetic smile.

Once Charlotte is completely out of the kitchen neither of them moves but Felicity has finally let the tears fall out. She bites her top lip trying really hard not to let a waterfall out. It is when Oliver see's this that he rushes towards her.

"Don't," she says again but it comes out weak. She just wanted to be alone right now; she needed some time alone to process all of this. That doesn't stop Oliver for a second. He embraces her and places his chin on her head, hugging her tightly. She doesn't move or attempt to hug him back.

"I'm so sorry," he tells her.

"I know…" she says taking a deep breath.

 

**This chapter didn't turn out the way I'd expected, a little disappointed but hope you liked anyway. Please leave reviews! The next chapter you'll find out more about Charlotte and Henry's relationship and the main reason why he left. Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So some of you might be a little disappointed by the severe lack of Oliver and Felicity interaction but I tired to make up for that by adding a little Connor, Mia, and Felicity interaction. Hope you all enjoy!**

 

"So you'll be okay." Charlotte tells Connor, already having made her way down to the gardens and saying the most important parts of her goodbye. Connor nods and they hug one last time and a tear manages to escape Charlotte's eyes. Connor also looks like he's about to cry but of course he doesn't and he probably won't for a while but Charlotte has learned to accept that.

She gets up, having been squatting to be on the same eye level as Connor. Henry, who was standing by casually comes up behind Connor and places a hand on his small shoulder. Charlotte glances at him, saying nothing and showing no expression towards him.

"Now it won't be so bad because Henry's here, right? That's someone you know, so you don't have to worry about feeling alone," Charlotte tells him giving him a quick kiss on the top of his head.

"That's right," Henry reassures him. "I'll come visit you and take you out any chance I get." Henry smiles at Charlotte trying to reassure her too but she doesn't take much notices to his effort.

"I'll call you once a week to see how everything is going, okay? But you can also call me when ever you feel like it. I love you Con Con," She tells him giving him one last tight hug before slowly walking away. After she makes it a few yards she stops to look back and wave one final goodbye.

"Wait here Connor, I'll be right back," Henry tells him, letting go of his shoulder and beginning to walk in the same direction Charlotte went.

Before Connor can get even a word out Henry is already sprinting. As he reaches the house Henry finds the nanny/maid that Felicity hired and politely asks her to go watch after Connor in the gardens. She quickly agrees. Henry finally catches up to Charlotte and finds her about to open the door.

"Charlotte," He calls out before she barely puts her hand on the door handle.

Charlotte stops and takes a few seconds before slowly turning around, arms crossed. "You knew didn't you?" She asks in an accusing manner.

Henry nods. "Adam told me when he found out where I was moving to and where I was planning on working." He pauses for a moment to get a reaction out of her but he doesn't. "He told me everything," he adds.

"Were you ever going to tell them?"

Henry is shocked at the sudden question. He thought that that would be the last thing she'd care about at the moment. He nods once again. "Originally," he says simply.

"What changed your mind?" She asks. "Or was your job just more important to you?"

"Of course not!" He says. Just hearing her accusing him of such a thing made him angry. As he takes a few steps forward he calms down and takes a heavy breath. "I met his fiancé and I realized she had no clue. I didn't know how to–how could I just…how do you tell someone something like that?" He asks her, half expecting and wanting a serious answer. "Just yesterday they brought home a beautiful little girl they are adopting. I just didn't want to be the one who ruined that happiness…"

Charlotte seems a little surprised at the part about the adoption but she doesn't make it too obvious. She quickly changes her expression. "You think I wanted to do this?" She asks angrily. "You think I wanted to leave Connor here, with people I don't even know?" She shakes her head. "No, of course not, but I'm doing it anyway because it was my best friends dying wish!"

"They're good people!" Henry says, suddenly getting the urge to defend them. "Oliver is Connor's real father and he was every right to get to know him."

Henry can tell that Charlotte looks a little taken back from his suddenly change of attitude. "Why are you defending him all of a sudden?" She asks confused. "You don't even know him!"

"And neither do you!" Henry reminds her. "But I'm not defending him. Every parent has a right to see their child grow up and his was unfairly taken from him."

"This isn't about you Henry!" Charlotte spits back. "This is  _not_  the same thing."

The words feel like a sting to his chest. She hadn't meant it in that way but even so, the words made him realize something that never crossed his mind. Of course this wasn't about him, and of course this wasn't the same situation, but maybe he did just want to give Oliver all those years that he would never get with his own daughter. Henry would never have the chance to see his daughter grow up and become and adult but Oliver still had that chance. Just because he wasn't there for the beginning, through no fault of his own, didn't mean he couldn't be there for the rest.

The room is silent for a few seconds as they both try to calm down. Henry manages to ask something he's been dying to know since he found out his two closest friends died. "How could you not tell me?" He asks, as if looking through her.

"Why would I?" Charlotte asks in a serious manner.

"You know why!" Adam finds himself getting angry again. He was upset at such a question. He had every right on earth to know. "Adam was a brother to me and Sandra was also my close friend. I had every goddamn right to know!"

Charlotte raises an eyebrow and tilts her head back. "Well it didn't really seem that way. I mean, with the way you left short notice and all."

Henry gives a short puff of breath, realizing what the true meaning of that statement was. "Is that what this is really about? Me leaving, that's the reason you didn't tell me?"

He waits for a reply and when he doesn't get one he speaks again. "I couldn't just stay in that same place anymore, go to the same places. I had enough of being reminded of what I didn't have anymore. Your sister would have wanted me to–"

"Bullshit!" She shouts, interrupting him. Henry has to take a step back from the shock. "Just admit that the problem wasn't the place but the person in that place! Every time you see me, look at me, you see her too! You remember what happened and that's why you left. You couldn't bare the thought of looking at a face that looked exactly like the face of the woman you let die. It just got to the point where you just couldn't take the guilt anymore so you left! You were too busy feeling sorry for yourself that you weren't there for me when I needed you the most. When we were supposed to be a family, you left me alone to grieve."

Before Henry can even think of anything to say she is already walking away. She stops and turns around again, her eyes red and glossy from holding back the tears. "If you really knew my sister than you would have known that she would have wanted to live a long and happy life with you and her daughter, surrounded by the people she loved and that loved her."

Henry still can't find the right words to say or even the strength to move. This is how it's always been since the accident; this has always been the only thing he could ever do for her, just stay quiet and take it all.

"So if I have to live with losing the only family members I had left in this world…than you can live with being the one who took them away from me."

It seems as though Charlotte wants to continue but before she can do so Felicity is already standing in front of Henry in a protective manner. "I understand that you're hurt and even frustrated after everything that's happened in the last few days but that doesn't give you a right to take all your anger out on him," Felicity tells Charlotte calmly, although she was all but.

Henry puts his hand on her arm. "Felicity, it's –" Before he can finish speaking, Felicity turns her gaze at him, almost pain in her eyes but he can't tell if it's for him or for the earlier discovery.

"No, it's not okay," she tells him, guessing what he was about to tell her. She turns to look back at Charlotte. "Do you know how hard it must be to live with what happened just without you reminding him of it? You lost your sister and niece but you weren't the only one who lost something precious that day. He also lost the love and joy of his life and blaming him will not bring them back."

Charlotte stares at the two for a moment before slowly nodding as if understanding some type of inside joke. "I can see why you didn't want to tell her the truth," Charlotte says softly. With that being said, she finally turns toward the door and leaves without saying another word.

After a few seconds Felicity turns around to face Henry and he gives her a faint smile. "Thank you," he tells her.

"Don't thank me. I couldn't just stand around watching as she blamed you," she says.

It is quite for a few seconds as Henry waits for Felicity to bring up what Charlotte meant before she left. She had to have realized Henry knew this whole time and didn't tell her. But Felicity doesn't ask about it. Instead she asks, "Where's Connor?"

"I left him in the gardens with Bethany so I could talk to Charlotte," he informs her.

Felicity nods.

"Where's Oliver?" He asks realizing he is nowhere to be seen.

"He's still in the kitchen," she tells him. "I heard the commotion and recognized your voice so I came out to check what was going on."

Just than Henry's phone begins to ring and he looks at Felicity before picking it up.

"Yeah, I understand," Felicity sees him nod after a second or two. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Just let yourself in."

Henry puts his phone away and awkwardly rubs his neck. "This probably isn't the best time but I have to go."

Felicity seems a little worried. "Is it QC?"

Henry shakes his head. "No," he tells her, "It's a very important personal matter though," he adds.

"Oh, okay," Felicity says simply.

"Unless…you need me to stay?" Henry asks. Maybe right now wasn't the best time to be alone and it was obvious that the last person she wanted to be comforted by was Oliver himself.

"No it's fine," Felicity tells him. "I'm just going to go upstairs with Mia."

"Okay," he says putting a hand on her shoulder. "Call if you need anything, if you need me to take Connor out or anything like that."

Felicity nods. "I will. Thank you."

He smiles at her. "Okay," he says before he leaves.

Felicity stays frozen for a few seconds, thinking, before she finally walks upstairs. She slowly and quietly opens the door to Mia's room. She didn't want to risk waking her up if she still happened to be sleeping.

"Hey," Felicity says softly and excitedly as she sees the little blond girl sitting in the small desk, trying to solve a puzzle. Mia looks up at her and smiles. "Want to help?" Mia asks.

"Of course I do!" Felicity says as she walks towards her.

"You can sit right there," Mia tells her, pointing to the other side of the desk.

"Okay," Felicity nods as she sits on her legs. "Did you just wake up?" Felicity asks noticing that she only had three pieces connected.

Mia nods. "It's a blue Elephant," Mia tells her as she points to the box it came in. Felicity smiles as she remembers the day her and Oliver went to the store to pick out things for her to play with.

Felicity is about to ask if she likes elephants when she notices Mia looking past her. "Hi!" Mia says happily.

Felicity turns around nervously, thinking it might be Oliver. She is in full surprise when she sees Connor. Felicity can only see half his body, as the other half was hiding behind the door frame.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," he almost whispers.

"Oh no, it's fine. You're not interrupting," Felicity tells him. "Is there something you need?" Felicity can see that he is crossing his legs.

"I was trying to find the restroom," he finally informs her.

Felicity tries to hold back a chuckle. "Did Bethany not show you?"

Connor looks a little scared when he says, "Actually…I didn't really ask her. I kind of just left on my own but I didn't realize how big this house was when I first got here," he says honestly.

"What about Oliver?" She asks realizing he had to have come through the kitchen door.

"He didn't see me walk in and he looked mad so I didn't want to ask."

Felicity chuckles, "He always looks mad," Felicity half jokes. "The restroom is right through that door," Felicity says more seriously, pointing towards the other door in Mia's room. "You can go ahead and use it."

Connor nods and quickly makes his way towards it.

"Who is that?" Mia asks as Felicity returns her attention back at her.

"His name is Connor," Felicity smiles. "And he is going to be staying with us for a while."

"Really?" Mia asks excitedly.

"Yes, really," Felicity smiles.

Just than Felicity hears Connor come out of the restroom. "Who is that?" She hears him asks.

Felicity turns her head to him. "Her name is Mia," Felicity tells him once she realizes he is referring to the little girl.

"Is she your daughter?" Connor asks as he makes his way towards them.

"Not yet," Felicity says as she pats on the floor near her for him to sit down. "But she will be in a few weeks."

Connor sits on the floor on the shorter side of the small desk. "Does that make her my sister?" He asks.

Felicity can sense a bit of excitement in his voice. "Mmmh…I suppose it does," Felicity smiles at him. "Did you want a sister?"

"Yes!" He smiles and for the first time since she's seen him his eyes light up and they look full of life. "But I never got one," he says in a disappointed tone.

"Well, now you have one," Felicity tells him.

Connor smiles and he scoot around the table next to Mia who smiles at him. "Want to help?" She also asks him.

"Yes," Connor smiles as he picks up a corner piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

Felicity can hear the sound of feet running up the stairs and she turns around just in time to see a panicked Bethany. "Ms. Smoak! I seem to have lost…" she stops in her tracks once she sees all three of them on the floor.

"Seem to have lost what?" Felicity smiles at her curiously, knowing that she was about to say she had lost Connor.

"Never mind," she says taking a deep breath, calming down.

Felicity laughs and at that moment her phone rings. She quickly gets up once she sees the caller ID. "Can you stay with the kids for a bit?" She asks Beth as she walks up next to her. "I need to take this."

Beth nods and walks into the room to sit down where Felicity had been. Felicity walks into her and Oliver's bedroom and locks the door behind her before sitting down on the edge of the bed. She picks up the call.

"Hey, Felicity! How have you been?"

"Laurel," Felicity says. "There's something I need to tell you." Felicity takes a deep breath.

"What happened?" Laurel asks obviously noticing something has to be wrong.

…

Henry parks his car and walks into his apartment building. He cautiously walks in, his door already being open. He doesn't see anyone as he puts his keys in the bowl next to his door. He looks around and sees someone bent over, behind the refrigerator door, looking through the fridge. Half of him relaxes and the other half of him is pissed that his fridge is getting raided.

"You could have at least shut the door all the way," Henry tells him.

The chubby man finally leans straight up, an already half eaten sandwich sticking out of his mouth and a bottle of beer in one hand. He steps back and nudges the fridge door with the heel of his foot so it closes slowly behind him. He uses his hand to pull the rest of the sandwich out of his mouth and sticks it out, offering some to Henry. Henry just looks between the sandwich and the man holding it. He shakes his head.

The man shrugs. "Your loss," he says once he swallows.

"What are you doing here Chuck?" Henry finally asks.

The man takes one last bite of his sandwich and chugs the rest of his beer. Henry just stares at him, not at all surprised by his actions. The man, Chuck, burps and wipes his mouth with his wrist before throwing away the bottle. "I told you. I have what you asked for," the man finally says.

"Well?" Henry asks looking around. "Where is it?"

Chuck points to the table on the other side of the kitchen. Henry follows his finger and see's the large orange envelope. He walks over to the table and picks it up. He looks up at Chuck and he nods in return. Chuck sits down across the table. "It's everything I could find and you of all people could understand why it isn't a lot," he says as Henry opens up the envelope and pulls out a smaller file.

Henry opens up the file and see's the man's picture on the very top center. He can't help but smile a little. It's been awhile since he's last seen this man, since he's last spoken with him. This older man who was like the father he never had.

"Can I ask why you wanted this all of a sudden?" Chuck asks curiously. "I mean it's been almost ten years since we left The Brotherhood. You're not planning on joining again, are you?" He asks.

Henry shrugs. "I've never thought of going back since I left," he tells him.  _But it doesn't mean I wouldn't_ he thinks to himself.

"Well, that was the last favor I owed you," he says tapping the able with his hand. He begins to get up just as Henry begins to look through the files. He skims through them quickly when he gets to the last page and freezes.

"Wait!" Henry warns looking up at Chuck who was already almost to the door.

Chuck turns around surprised. "What?" He asks.

Henry skims the page one last time to make sure he understood right. He looks back at Chuck and gently shakes the folder. "Is this real? Could he really be…"

"Here? In Starling City?" Chuck finishes for him. "Yeah."

It is at the moment that he gets a terrible feeling at the pit of his stomach. "So that means they know, doesn't it?" Henry asks beginning to get anxious.

Chuck shakes his head. "Of course not," he says. "The FBI is good but not good enough to track down his movements and find him. They're like ghost, remember? They never attack the same place twice and they move around randomly. There is no way that someone who hasn't been a member could ever locate their next target before they even reached it."

Henry looks at him confused but somewhat relieved. Chuck opens the door. "That last page was all me. I did some illegal work and figured it out. I erased all evidence so there is no way in hell the FBI will know it was me or what I was even searching up," Chuck reassures him.

"Thank you Chuck," Henry smiles.

"No problem," Chuck tells him. "It brought back some good memories." He smiles, half filled with sadness and leaves, shutting the door behind him.

Henry slowly sits back down staring at the file in front of him but more specifically the picture. It is at this time that he also notices the name written below it and can't help but chuckle when he sees that it says ' **DAMIEN DARHK'**. It was very amusing that after all this time the FBI still wasn't capable of figuring out his true identity. But than again Henry was the only other person in the world who knew who Damien Darhk really was.

"What the hell are you up to, old man," Henry asks himself as he leans back in his chair and takes a deep breath. "What was your real purpose in coming here after all these years.

 

**Okay guys so let me start off by saying that in this story Damien Darhk will not be some immortal or the leader of H.I.V.E. I have a totally different idea than what maybe the Arrow writers do. So I came up with a different organization with a completely different agenda. So it probably goes without saying (still gonna stay it) that in my story Damien Darhk or 'The Brotherhood' have nothing to do with the hit sent on Andy Diggle. Hope you all have an amazing week!(: Don't forget to leave reviews please and thank you!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hope you all enjoy. Also, I'm sorry if some of you don't agree with the way Felicity is reacting and Oliver absence in the last chapter. I kind of tried making up for that this chapter.**

 

She's been standing in front of the door for the past five minutes. She'd told Bethany to keep the kids occupied and she'd left the house without Oliver noticing. He still hasn't left the kitchen by the time she was gone.

She lifted her hand and is a few inches from knocking on the door before changing her mind. What was she going to tell him? How was she going to vent without telling him the truth? It wasn't her place to tell him, it was Oliver's because they were brothers. But right now he was the only person she could turn to about this.

She hesitantly puts her hand down and turns around. Before she can even take a second step, she hears the door behind her open. "You're really just gonna leave after standing at my door step for five minutes?" She hears him say.

Felicity turns around. "If you knew I was standing there why didn't you just let me in and spare me the inner conflict?" She asks only half kidding.

Diggle chuckles. "Where's the fun in that?"

Felicity gives him a 'really' look before he takes a step to the side as she makes her way into his apartment. As she looks around, she realizes no one else is home.

"Where is everyone?" She asks, setting her purse down on the lamp desk next to the door.

Diggle shuts the door. "They went for a walk through the park."

Felicity nods. "You knew I would be coming, didn't you?" She asks already knowing the answer.

He shrugs. "I had a hunch."

Felicity sits down on the couch and Diggle sits in the sofa chair on the other side of the living room. "So how much did he tell you?" Felicity finally asks.

"Pretty much what happened, without the details. It's safe for you to assume that I know he has a son he never knew he had until today."

Felicity doesn't say anything. She was relieved that Oliver had already told Diggle most of it. That would explain why Oliver hadn't left the kitchen. Diggle leans back in the sofa chair and crosses his arms. "So how much did you tell Laurel?" He smirks.

"What makes you think I told Laurel?" She asks feeling a tad bit guilty.

"Laurel and Thea are your John Diggle and Roy Harper," He smiles. "And I highly doubt you would go to Thea over Oliver's long lost son," he correctly points out.

Diggle waits for a response but Felicity only agrees. "So what are you doing here?" He finally asks. "Not that I'm complaining," he clarifies.

"I love him John," she finally lets out. "He's the love of my life and I'm not upset because he has a son he didn't know about."

"Why are you upset than?" John asks.

Felicity rubs her sweaty palms on the hem of her dress. "We're engaged," she says softly. "I'm supposed to know everything about him and after this whole thing happened I started thinking."

"About what?"

Felicity takes a second to gather all her thoughts. For some reason the room seems to have gotten twenty degrees hotter. "About how much I really don't know about him. How I can't help but feeling like I don't know anything," she takes a deep breathing before continuing, "I know I'm terrible for feeling this way but –"

"Felicity," Diggle interrupts. "Oliver was just as shocked about the whole thing as you were. He had no idea."

Felicity nods, knowing that it's true. Oliver really had no idea, but that wasn't the problem. "But he should have told me."

Diggle gives her a strange look.

"About the miscarriage, I mean," she clarifies. "I know it happened before we met and before the island but he still should have told me." She knew she was probably being completely unreasonable and unfair about the whole situation but she just needed time to process the whole thing.

Diggle leans forward, placing both elbows on his knees. "Felicity…you were by Oliver's side when he was a killer, when his best friend died, when his mother died," he says it with conviction. "And it was with your help that he stopped being a killer."

She can't help but remember all those times she had told him that maybe there was another way. She also can't help but form a small smile when she remembers the day he told her the same thing.

"Trust me," Diggle says. "All the mistakes Oliver made before and during his time as a castaway don't even compare to what he's been able to accomplish while you have been by his side every step of the way."

It's the way he says it that Felicity has no doubt he means every single word and just like that she feels a little bit more at ease.

"Besides, not to make matters worse but isn't this pretty much the pot calling the kettle black?" He says more than asks.

"What are you talking about?" Felicity asks completely confused about what he means.

Diggle opens his mouth to answer her question but before he can get a word out the phone begins to ring. Diggle slowly gets up to pick it up. "Hello?"

Diggle waits for a second. "Oliver," he says looking at Felicity so she knows who it is.

Another few seconds pass. "Yeah, she's here."

He looks at Felicity and she only shakes her head.

"Well, she's in the restroom right now," he lies.

Felicity just stares at him waiting to hear what comes next. Oliver wouldn't believe such an obvious lie, would he?

Diggle nods. "Okay," he says. "I will." He hangs up and puts the phone back on the holder. He sits back down and Felicity only stares at him waiting for him to tell her what Oliver said.

"He said, and I quote: 'Dig, I know you're lying and she probably told you to, which is fine, but could you at least please tell her that it doesn't have to be right now…but we need to talk about this.'"

"What did you mean by what you said earlier, the pot calling the kettle black? Am I the pot in this situation?" She asks obviously trying to change the subject.

Diggle catches on and doesn't put up a fight. He crosses his arms once again and gives her a look. "Well, I mean…have you been completely honest with Oliver?"

A confused look makes its way onto Felicity's face.  _What are you talking about?_  She asks herself.

"Have you told him about your life before you met him?" He clarifies and shrugs. "Maybe I'm wrong but all either of us know, or all of us for that matter, are the small things you've  _let_  us know and one of those things was only because you had no other choice but to tell us." There is no accusation in his voice what so ever and Felicity appreciated it.

Felicity knows that that last statement was referring to the whole Cooper incident that happened a few years back and how she didn't really choose to, but was practically forced to tell them about how he ended up in jail and how she believed he had hung himself there.

She knows that everything he has just said is true so she doesn't know how to argue or what to even say.

"Listen, I'm not trying to point any fingers," he says softly. "Because although I'm completely fine with you staying here and taking all the time you need to process this…don't you think you and Oliver should be processing this together?"

"I know that," Felicity says. "But right now I need a few more hours to gather my thoughts before Oliver and I can even sit down and talk."

"And I get that," he huffs. "All I'm saying is that I understand why you're upset, but that maybe your reasons to be upset are maybe not the most valid."

Felicity just gives him a look and he tries not to laugh.

"But hey, whatever, take all the time you need," he says. "Mi casa es su casa…or something like that."

And just like that Felicity lightens up and laughs softly. Diggle gets up and heads to the kitchen. He opens up the fridge. "You want a drink?" He asks showing her a bottle of wine.

Felicity gets up and heads to grab her purse. "No thanks," she says before opening the door.

"Where are you going?" Diggle asks confused.

"To get something stronger," she says but not loud enough for him to hear. Before Diggle can say anything else Felicity is already out the door.

 

**~An hour earlier~**

He had been sitting in the kitchen for the better half of an hour. Felicity and he barely spoke before she practically ran out of the kitchen. He had called Diggle and managed to explain the gist of what was going on.

Oliver hadn't felt this way since Slade Wilson stabbed his mother dead, right in front of his very eyes. Not sad or depressed but the shock that came with it. One second he's about to be a father and the next, he already is.

Bethany entering the kitchen interrupts his thoughts.

"Do you know where Felicity is, Bethany?" Oliver asks her as she passes him.

Beth shakes her head and she goes to the fridge and gets out a tub of peanut butter and one of jelly. "She's not home at the moment."

"Do you know where she went?" He asks obviously confused.

She begins to add jelly to one side of the bread and peanut butter to the other. "No sir. She got a phone call and shortly after she instructed me to keep the children occupied while she was gone."

She put one pb&j sandwich on a plate and cuts it in half, making to small triangles.

"Are those for the kids?" He asks.

"Yes," she nods. "Connor asked for one and Mia joined in."

Oliver gets up and holds on to the plate. "I got it," he tells her. "I'll bring it up to them. I'll keep them company."

She looks at him for a few seconds as if waiting for him to change his mind before letting go of the plate. Oliver smiles at her and heads upstairs to Mia's room. Oliver stops just outside the already half open door when he hears Connor speaking. He sticks his head inside going completely unnoticed.

"Do you like it here?" He hears the little boy ask as he gives Mia the final piece to the puzzle.

"That's good," he says softly. "Maybe I'll like it here too."

"Where are your parents?" She asks putting in the final piece and looking up at him.

He stares at her for a while and he smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes. "They're on a really long vacation," he tells her.

"Where?" Mia asks.

Oliver quickly walks in. "Hey!" He says cheerfully trying to change the atmosphere. The last thing Connor needed was to try and explain what happened to a three year old.

Before Oliver barely makes it past the door, Connor is already in front of him grabbing both pieces. He sits down and takes a big bite out of his piece while sticking out the other piece so Mia can take a small bite.

"Do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" Oliver asks as he sits down across the small table from them. It was a weak attempt at starting a conversation but he didn't know how else to start.

"Yes," Connor nods. "My dad used to make me one every morning before dropping me off at school."

He takes another bite. "They're the best thing ever!" He says happily.

"I'll make you one every morning than," Oliver tells him.

Connor stares at him for a few seconds and finally nods but there is no facial expression on his face. Mia gets up and goes to her toy box where she gets out as many alphabetic blocks and she can find. Connor leans over and puts her sandwich back on the plate, his being already finished, leaving only the crust.

"Where did the pretty lady go?" Connor finally asks.

"Bethany?" Oliver asks. "The one that was just here?"

"No," he shakes his head. "She was pretty too, but I mean the one that was here before her."

"Connor can obviously see that Oliver was confused so he adds in, "The blond one."

"Oh," Oliver was surprised that Felicity and Oliver had already had an interaction. "She had some work to attend to," Oliver lies, or maybe he wasn't lying.

"She's your wife right?"

"No," Oliver says simply and for a second he thinks he sees Connor frown, "But she will be in a few months," he adds.

Connor smiles before going over to Mia and watches her play with the blocks. She hands him some and Oliver gets up off the floor. He goes to the door but before he leaves, he takes one last look at the pair. A smile slowly creeps onto his face when he sees how well they get along. He couldn't help but remember how he would always play with Mia. Maybe this wasn't the way it was supposed to happen, but nevertheless, he was finally getting the family he'd always thought he'd never get to have.

As he puts his hand on the handle to pull it open, some beats him to it. For a second relief flashes through his body, thinking it might be Felicity, but that relief quickly goes away once she sees the brown hair.

"I'm sorry Mr. Queen," Bethany says as she takes a step back from the door. "I was just coming to check if the kids needed anything else."

Oliver steps to the side. "I think they're fine for now," he tells her, taking one last glance at the two children. "Could you stay with them? I'm going to go make a call outside."

"Of course," she nods, walking into the room.

Oliver walks down stairs and heads out to his car, where he had forgotten his phone in his panic to get to Felicity as quickly as possible. He leans over to the passenger's seat and picks it up. He leans against the car and looks at his phone. He is shocked when he realizes that he has multiple missed calls from Laurel.  _Is she finally back from her honeymoon?_

Oliver deletes the notification, deciding that finding out where Felicity went was more important at the moment. He calls the only other person he knew Felicity would go to.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

" _Hello_?" He pauses. " _Oliver_."

"Hey," Oliver finally says. "Is Felicity there?"

Diggle takes long to answer, too long. Oliver knows that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to be a lie.

" _Well, she's in the restroom right now."_

Yep. A lie.

Oliver takes a deep breath. "Dig, I know you're lying and she probably told you to, which is fine, but could you at least please tell her that it doesn't have to be right now…but we need to talk about this."

" _Okay. I wil_ l," Diggle says and Oliver knows he means it.

They both hang up and Oliver walks back inside the house after a few minutes of silence.

 

**Please leave reviews. Thank you so much for reading! Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So let me start off by saying that there is quite a lot of Henry and Felicity communicating in the beginning of this chapter, which opens up some more truth behind the accident that caused Margret and Lydia's death. But half of this chapter is Oliver and Felicity filled moments. I hope you enjoy! (:**

 

**(Karma: Bar and Grill)**

Felicity parked on the other side of the street. She makes sure to lock her car doors. The bar just happened to be in a sketchy area of the city but it was the only good,  _clean_ , bar nearby.

She had contemplated going to Verdant but she didn't want to run the risk of finding Thea and her asking her questions. There was also Poison but she didn't want to deal with Max Fuller's terrible attempts to get her into bed as revenge for what Oliver did with his fiancé. There was also the fact that the last thing she wanted was to be in a room with music blasting everywhere.

Felicity quickly made her way into Karma. She sat at the bar. "Shot of tequila, please," she tells the bartender. She was tall and skinny and her arms were full of tattoos. She nods and a few seconds later a shot of tequila was in front of her. Felicity holds her breath and gulps it all down at once.

"Another," she says.

It is obvious she is trying to hold back a smile as she pours Felicity another drink. Felicity picks it up and is about to drink it all when she takes a glance around and notices someone sitting in a booth across the bar. She saw something familiar about the person so she freezes and looks more carefully.

She takes out her purse and places some money in front of her. "Thank you," she says before walking away with her shot still in her hand.

Felicity slides into the booth in front of him without saying anything. She puts her drink down and puts her purse next to her thigh. "What are you doing here?" She finally asks.

"Probably the same reason you are," Henry says without taking his eyes off the empty glass cup in his hand. "Get drunk so I don't have to remember anything about the last twenty-four hours."

"I'm not here to get drunk," Felicity says defensively. "I don't get drunk."

Henry finally stares up at her and she shrugs. "Okay…except for this one time at MIT, but that was only because I was new and trying to fit in, which was a bad idea."

A small smile appears on his face and it helps to make Felicity feel better. She notices his blood shut eyes. Could he really be that drunk already?

"Although I enjoy your company, I think I have more of a reason to get drunk out of my mind today than you do," He tells her as he lifts the already half empty bottle of alcohol and pours some in his glass cup so it's almost over flowing. "To be honest I don't even know why you're here. You should be home right now talking to your fiancé."

Felicity opens her mouth but before any words can come out she sees Henry's bruised and bloody knuckles on the hand pouring the alcohol. Her eyes go wide and she freezes.

"I mean, I just found out two of my closest friends are dead," he says bitterly. "I was actually in the ally punching some walls before I found this place," He tells her as he gives her a better view of his hand. He takes a quick sip of his beer.

"Henry!" Felicity scolds in horror. She quickly grabs a small paper towel from the table. She leans forward and attempts to put it on his wounds. Before she can get to it Henry moves his hand.

"It'll be fine," Henry tells her as he puts his hand back to his side.

Was that why his eyes looked blood shut, because he was crying? Felicity doesn't say anything.

"Thank you for defending me back then," he finally speaks. "It was nice of you, even though you had to reason to."

Felicity is shocked. "Of course I did," she tells him and he looks confused. "It's not fair of her to remind you of what happened when you have a hard enough trying to forget."

"Felicity," he shakes his head softly. "I'm not trying to forget what happened. I don't deserve to forget what happened and there's no way I could ever forget what happened. Especially after finding out…" he suddenly stops and closes his eyes as if reminding himself to keep quite.

"Especially after finding out what?" Felicity asks, trying to push her luck.

Henry slowly opens his eyes and pushes his drink to the side. He gives a bitter chuckle. "You know when I got home to attend to something important, everything was fine…I was fine. It hadn't hit me that they were dead. In fact I had just found out some interesting news…good news, I guess you could say."

"Henry, you don't have to–" before Felicity can explain how he doesn't have to force himself to talk about it, he interrupts.

"My friend had left and as I was sitting down looking at the good news for a while before it finally hit me. Two more people I cared about are dead," he takes a deep breath. "Felicity, there is something I didn't tell you about the accident."

"What is it?" Felicity asks suddenly feeling anxious. Something was different.

"The other driver," Henry begins. "The one who hit us…he was intoxicated."

Felicity stays silent, letting it all sink in. What happened in her house flashes through her head. "What?" She finally manages to get out. "So even than she… the way Charlotte was talking to you–does she really blame you for what happened?"

Henry seems confused. "Of course she does. Why wouldn't she?"

Now Felicity is the confused one. "Because it wasn't your fault! The other driver –"

"I never told her the other driver was intoxicated," he says simply.

"Why?"

He shrugs. "Because she has every right to hate me, to say whatever she wants to me. She lost the only family she had left because of me. Margret wasn't just her sister, she was like the mother they never really had."

Felicity gives him a moment. "Henry…you lost the only family you had left too. It's not fair to you or to her that you take all the blame. Charlotte has a right to know that maybe it wasn't your fault. That it probably  _wasn't_  your fault."

Henry shakes his head and takes one quick drink. "Felicity, even if there wasn't a drunk driver involved… _I_ fell asleep behind the wheel.  _I_ could have prevented the accident but that didn't happen because I was careless. It was all on me."

Felicity refused to believe that. "But Henry–"

"Drop it, Felicity!" He says raises his voice a little. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's change the subject."

Felicity stares at him for what seems like forever. "Fine," she says. She remembers the real reason she walked over here. "You knew about Connor and didn't tell me. Let's talk about that." She crosses her arms and leans back.

"Maybe we should change the subject again," he says only half kidding.

"You knew and didn't tell me," she says again. " _Why?_ "

He sighs and waits a moment to gather all his thoughts. "You were happy."

"What does that mean?" She asks.

"It means you were happy Felicity, with Mia, with being with Oliver. You were happy and excited and I didn't know how to bring up the fact that your fiancé had an eleven year old son he didn't even know about. I didn't want to ruin your happiness."

Felicity doesn't know what to say. That was really the reason why he didn't want to tell her? Because he wanted her to keep being happy?

Henry leans back and takes a deep breath. "Besides, would you have believed me if I told you?"

Felicity shakes her head. "Obviously not at first but if you'd had told me now I would have."

Henry gives her a look.

She sighs in frustration. "Before today I mean. Like yesterday or something."

"Really?" He asks surprised.

"Yeah, of course," Felicity says. "I trust you."

" _Really?_ " He asks again jokingly.

Felicity kicks him under the table. "Yes,  _really_! Believe it or not.

Henry lifts his cup. "Well, I'm honored."

Felicity lefts her shot and they tap them together before they both take a drink out of their cups. Felicity makes a face as they both slam there glasses on the table.

"Felicity?" Henry says her name quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I can understand why you're upset and I'm about to say something but I don't want you to think that by any means I'm trying to one up you or belittle your feelings."

Felicity waits a second, thinking what it could be, before nodding.

"Like I said before…I lost two of my closest friends," he begins slowly. "Connor lost his parents, and he has no one except for you and Oliver now. I'm not saying you have no right to be upset but instead of seeing this as Oliver betraying you or something like that…maybe you should think of this more as getting a new member of the family, who by the way, is loving, kind and amazing."

Felicity gets up out of the booth and Henry watches as she walks over to the bar. She exchanges a few words with the bartender before coming back with a cup full of ice. She doesn't sit down; she just leans over and picks up her purse. She sets the cup down in front of him. "Put your hand in that," she tells him before walking away.

She only makes it two steps before turning back around. "Do you need a ride home?" She asks remembering how much he has been drinking.

He shakes his head, "No, I have a friend picking me up," he smiles. "Go be with your family."

"Thank you," she says softly before finally turning around. She quickly gets into her car and drives off. Before she knows it she's at Toy's R Us buying anything that she thought an eleven year old boy would find entertaining.

 

**(Queen Mansion: Two hours later)**

Felicity makes her way through the driveway and parks right behind Oliver's car. She takes her phone out of her bag. She looks at all the missed calls. She had seven missed calls from Oliver and two from Diggle. She deletes them all and grabs as many bags as her hands would let her. She shuts the door as quietly as she could so she could still have the element of surprise.

She walks inside the house and is surprised to find that most of the lights were turned off. Felicity drops the bags, including her purse by the door, quietly shutting it behind her. She sees a dim light coming from the living room. She stops at the door frame when she sees them. A sleeping Mia is using a combination of Oliver and Connor's legs as a bed. Oliver is silently sleeping, with an also sleeping Connor resting his head on Oliver's forearm.

Felicity stands still, smiling, taking a mental picture of this image. A minute or so passes before she finally goes to the coffee table and uses the controller to lower the volume. The kids fell asleep watching Power Rangers and Oliver probably didn't want to wake them so fell asleep himself.

She quietly leaves the living room and walks to the kitchen. Bethany surely must have left by now. Felicity walks over to the fridge and gets a water of bottle with one hand and uses her free hand to look around for a quick snack. Those two shots didn't quite fill her up.

She hears a sound and she lowly leans up past the fridge door and see's Oliver squinting his eyes towards her, probably still hazy from just waking up.

"Hey," Felicity says softly.

He wipes his eyes. "Felicity?" He says sleepily. "Where have you been?"

"Um –"

"It's already dark outside," he says sounding more like his usual self, "and what are all those bags outside of the door?"

Felicity takes a quick drink of her water bottle before setting it on the counter. She couldn't help but feel nervous. "I know, and I'm sorry," she finally says. "I was…it's just that I went to Diggle's."

"I know. I  _called_ ," Oliver says, already knowing she knew that. "But that was over  _five_   _hours_  ago."

"…than I went to Karma…" She says with a pinch of guilt.

Oliver is a little taken back. "You went to a bar by yourself?" He asks, a tint of shock and worry in his voice.

Felicity takes a few steps forward. "Yes," she says feeling even more guilty, "but I only had two shots of tequila," As soon as it comes out she shuts her eyes and bites her lips. That little fact wouldn't help her argument.

Once she opens her eyes again she sees the strange look on Oliver's face and for a few seconds she thinks its amusement. She takes a second before speaking again. "Henry was also there so we started talking and he made me realize how I should put my personal feeling aside for the moment and that I should see this whole situation as gaining a new family member."

Felicity takes a few steps closer to Oliver and loosely puts her arms around his neck. On instinct he puts his hands on her waist. "Connor lost his parents so all he needs right now is us," she tells him, "being together and being a family."

She thinks for a moment. "Of course talking to Diggle helped too," Felicity assures him.

Felicity gives him a quick kiss on the lips and he smiles but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. Before she can ask him what's wrong he asks, "And the pile of bags?"

Felicity gives a nervous laugh.

"What did you buy?" Oliver asks, sounding somewhat concerned.

Felicity gives him an apologetic stare. "Half the reason I came home this late was because I've spent most of the last two hours walking around at Toys R Us."

Oliver raises an eyebrow. "All those bags are filled with toys?"

Felicity nods. "Yes, most of them are for Connor but I bought quite a few for Mia as well."

"Are you trying to buy my son's love?" Oliver asks jokingly.

They both freeze. He finally said it,  _son_.

"No," Felicity says acting hurt. She knew the last thing he wanted was for it to become a big deal because it was a fact. She smiles. "I don't need to buy his love. I'm naturally lovable," she says in a bragging manner.

"Really?" Oliver smiles.

Felicity lets go of his neck. "Of course! I did get billionaire, playboy, Oliver Queen to fall for my charms. Did I not?"

Oliver chuckles. "That you did," he tells her. "But you should also know that I don't like sharing what's mine," he says with a smirk.

Felicity laughs. "And I wouldn't want you to," she tells him.

She wraps her fingers through his and they make their way out of the kitchen and to the entry of the house. Oliver looks through some of the bags.

"How much did all of this cost you?" He asks a few minutes later, a box with a remote control helicopter on it in his hands.

"The price doesn't matter," Felicity says avoiding his gaze. "The children's happiness does," she smiles at him.

"What about teaching them that material thing's don't equal real happiness?" He asks, putting the box back in the bag.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she tells him.

Felicity picks up some of the bags and hands them to Oliver who quickly gets up off the floor.

"But for now, let's spoil the crap out of them!" She lights up.

Oliver takes the bags from Felicity and also picks up the rest of them. He picks up most of them with one hand. Felicity can't help but frown at how easy it really was for him to pick up and carry all of them. It practically took the breath out of her.

"What?" Oliver asks noticing her reaction.

"Nothing," Felicity smiles.

He turns around and heads towards the stairs but stops half way up when he hears Felicity ask, "When you're done with those, could you come out to the car with me?"

"Why?" Oliver asks confused.

Felicity puts a finger up. "One, it's scary dark outside," she says with a shiver. She puts up another finger. "Two, I have one more thing in the back seats and in the trunk that are far too big and heavy for me to carry on my own."

Oliver's shoulders slouch and the bags almost fall out of his hands. "What kind of things?" He asks.

Felicity shrugs and makes a weird noise in the process. "Like maybe a battery powered scooter for Connor…and one of those small cars that you can actually drive around for Mia…"

Oliver gives a gasp of surprise but before he can say anything, Felicity turns around and pretends to look at a small painting next to the door. Shortly after, she hears Oliver walking up the rest of the stairs without saying another word.

A minute or so later he is back downstairs and they are getting the last two items out of the car and into the house. While Oliver makes the two trips to their room, Felicity goes into the living room and slowly grabs Mia off the couch, which didn't seem to have woken up at any point. She carefully takes her upstairs and puts her to bed. She gives her a kiss goodnight before leaving the room.

When Felicity walks out into the hallway she sees Oliver walking upstairs with Connor almost over his shoulder, dead asleep. Felicity quickly walks over to the guest room next to Mia's room and turns on the light. She moves the top blanket far down enough that Oliver can get Connor underneath. She slowly puts the blanket on top of him.

Connor moves a little getting comfortable but without waking up. It is after a few seconds of staring at him while he is sound asleep that Felicity finally sees the undeniable resembles between Oliver and him, the gorgeous blue eyes and dirty blond hair. He looked almost like Oliver did when he was that age except, dare she say, more handsome? If that was possible.

"What are you think about?" Oliver asks her quietly.

Felicity turns to him, having forgotten he was even in the room with her. "Oh, nothing," she says. "Just how much he looks like you. It's almost creepy."

She walks over to him. "Let's just hope he doesn't turn into you," she laughs to herself.

Oliver looks hurt and confused. She mentally scolds herself. "I mean, who you were before you got on that boat," she clarifies, kissing him on the cheek.

Oliver smiles and they turn off the light on their way out of the room. Oliver slowly shuts the door and they walk to their room, the light already being turned on from before. Felicity walks over to a corner of the bed, her back facing it, and let's herself fall back freely. She moans of pure pleasure as the soft sheets touch her skin. She sticks out her hands toward Oliver, inviting him to join her.

Without a moment's hesitation he is on top of her, smiling at her. Felicity smiles back before turning her head so her cheek was resting on the bed and she closes her eyes. She could probably fall asleep like this. She was so exhausted after today and she really needed to sleep right about now.

"It was only for a few hours…but I really missed you," he begins and Felicity quickly opens her eyes and turns to look at him. "I was scared that you –"

"I know," she interrupts softly, "and I'm sorry."

She couldn't believe the hours of torture she had put him through by leaving for a few hours. She hated herself for causing him such pain and worry. She should have known better but so should he.

She kisses him. "Oliver, you have to know by now that I would never leave you."

He smiles and this time it does reach his eyes. He slowly begins to kiss her neck and she wraps her hands around his back. A few more kisses pass before he stops and looks at her again.

"What's wrong?" She asks a little upset at his sudden halt.

"Does this mean you forgive me?" He asks and Felicity can tell that he is holding his breath for her answer.

She slowly gets out from under him and up out of the bed. She pushes back some loose strands from her ponytail. She really didn't really want to talk about this right now but she knew there was no other choice. This was a two person effort and they were a team, which meant she couldn't just run away or hide from the problem anymore. They had to face it head on and it was better to do it sooner rather than later.

She finally turns around and sees him sitting down on the edge of the bed. He looks up at her.

"Oliver, I have nothing to forgive you for," she says sincerely. "You did nothing wrong. You didn't know, she lied to you and I understand that. That wasn't the reason I've been so upset."

"Then why are you so upset? Why did you refuse to talk to me for so long? Felicity you have to tell me what's wrong so we can fix this."

Felicity takes a deep breath. "A long time ago, when I was still dating Ray, I told him I knew you better than almost anyone and I said it with such pride."

Oliver looks at her confused with what that had to do with the current situation. "What does that have to do with this? You do know me better than anyone!"

Felicity takes a second to gather herself. Right now was not the time to get frustrated. "The problem," she finally says, "is I'm not entirely sure if knowing Oliver Queen better than anyone else is good enough for me anymore."

"What does that even mean?" He asks anxiously probably thinking she meant a completely different thing.

Felicity slowly makes her way on the bed next to him. She sits down and looks at him. "I know everything about you, everything that you've done but only  _after_  I met you."

Oliver bewildered expression doesn't seem to change.

"I want to know more about what you were like before I met you," she clarifies. "Before you were deserted on Lian Yu, and in Honk Kong, and a member of the Russian Mafia. I want to know more about 'Ollie'. What was he like?"

For the first time Oliver relaxes. He looks at her. "Oh you wouldn't like him," he chuckles. "Ollie was an arrogant, cocky, disrespectful jerk, who peed on police officers."

A part of her deep down inside wanted to laugh but she knew that would only make him believe that this wasn't as important as it really was. They wanted to fix this and this conversation would be the only way to do this.

"Oliver," she warns. "I'm being serious here."

"So am I," he says honestly.

She shakes her head and gets up. She exhales deeply before feeling Oliver grab a hold of her hand. "Okay, I'm sorry," he apologizes and Felicity turns back to look at him. "So you really want to know more about what I was like before the island?"

Felicity sits back down and places a hand on his lap. "Of course I do," she says honestly, "and  _not_ just the things off the tabloids. I want to know everything."

Oliver places his hand over hers. "If I tell you, will you tell me more about yourself? I mean, what you were like before we met too? What were you like in high school? What were you doing while I was dead?"

Felicity is a little shocked that he'd ask for the same request but she was also happy. This was something new for them. After tonight, they could both honestly say they knew each other better than anyone else.

"Deal," she finally says.

Oliver nods before taking a big gulp. He was about to tell her  _everything_ , including all the times he had cheated, lied and more.

 

**So what did you think? I hope that in the end all the waiting was worth it. Thank you to anyone who was patient! Leave reviews please. Hope you all have an amazing week!(:**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Guys! I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the long wait. I finally got a job and then summer was over and I didn’t have a lot of free time. I also got some writers block. Oops. I probably won’t update on the regular anymore. Sorry about that but no worries! You might have to wait longer for updates but I promise I won’t give up on this fanfic. I wanna finish it for all the people still interested. Enjoy!**

            Oliver wakes up alone. He looks around and Felicity is nowhere in sight, not even in the restroom. As he gets up Oliver recalls everything they talked about. Half of him was relieved that everything was finally out. The other half was anxious. What if she saw or treated him different? That would hurt too much.

            A small smile creeps onto his face as he recalls how they took turns saying something, some secrets were embarrassing, others more serious. Every once and awhile they would laugh and other times Felicity would give him a look of surprise or groan in utter shock. Without realizing it they had somehow made it to the kitchen table, sharing a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream side by side. At one point Felicity flicked the ice cream that was on her spoon at him which then turned into a playful game.

            They spent about thirty minutes cleaning up the mess off the floor. Felicity almost slipped but Oliver caught her just in time. A few minutes later Felicity fell asleep listening to one of his stories of how he got kicked out of one of so many colleges. Oliver carefully and slowly picked her up and carried her to their bed. He fell asleep watching her.

            Oliver makes his way downstairs and looks through a lot of the house before finding Bethany dusting a table in the hall. “Good morning Mr. Queen,” she greets happily. “Would you like for me to go ahead and ask Ricardo to prepare your breakfast?”

            “Did Felicity leave the house already?” He asks, still looking around.

            Beth shakes her head. “No, she is outside with the children.”

            Oliver nods and turns around. He takes a few steps before turning back around. “About the breakfast, yes please.” He smiles.

            Beth nods and walks in the opposite direction as him, into the kitchen. As soon as Oliver steps outside he sees Felicity standing near Mia, who was inside her battery powered Porsche. Felicity casually turns around and sees him standing by the door. She smiles and waves for him to come over.

            “So what do you think?” She asks once he’s finally made his way next to her.

            Oliver looked over to Mia who was driving in big circles around them now. She giggles. “If she’s happy, so am I,” he tells her.

“So am I,” she says giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He wraps one of his hands around her waist. Oliver looks around and notices Connor is nowhere to be found. Bethany had told him all three of them were out here.

            “Where’s Connor?”

            “Wait for it,” Felicity says excitedly.

            A few seconds later Oliver hears a soft humming noise. He turns his head in the direction it is coming from and sees Connor coming around from behind the house, driving his green electric scooter. It largely resembled a real motor scooter.

            “This is his fourth trip,” Felicity whispers to him.

            Once Connor sees both of them he waves at them. “Both hands!” Felicity and Oliver shout at the same time. He quickly puts both hands on the throttle.

            “You did all this?” Oliver asks smiling down at Felicity.

            “Of course,” she smiles.

            Oliver raises an eyebrow, giving her a ‘really?’ type of look.

            Felicity frowns. “Ugh,” she groans. “You got me. I had Ricardo put them together but _I_ did read him the instructions.”

            Before Oliver can say something, Connor is stopping in front of them. “This is really cool. Thanks Felicity!”

            Felicity smiles. “You’re welcome.”

            Connor smiles once again before going for another round.

            “You got him a green one?”

            “It was the only one left in stock,” Felicity says tapping her shoulder against his arm.

            “I’m sure it was,” Oliver chuckles.

Suddenly Felicity gets serious. “Thank you for yesterday,” she finally says softly. “It really meant a lot.”

“Don’t thank me. I needed it just as much, or even more than you did.” He kisses her forehead. “Thank you.”

Felicity looks up at him, about to say something but before any words can come out she is stopped.

“There you are!” They both hear someone say very loudly behind them. They both turn around at the same time. Oliver is shocked to see an angry looking Laurel marching her way past the gates towards them, Ted slowly falling behind, a worried expression on his face.

“Laurel?” Oliver says confused. “What are you doing here?”

Before Laurel can answer Felicity is scooting farther away from him. “Oh no,” she cringes.

It all happened so fast. One minute Laurel was marching toward him and the next he was clutching his bleeding nose. Just like that everyone stopped. Mia stopped going in circles in her car, Felicity and Ted stared at the scene in front of them, Connor had managed to get back just in time. He stopped his scooter right next to where Felicity was standing.

“Cool,” Connor says in a low tone. He didn’t want to get in trouble

“What was that for?” Oliver asks covering up his bleeding nose.

Laurel clutches onto her already bruising hand, which also happened to have a little of Oliver’s blood on it. “Just something I’ve been itching to do ever since you got on the Gambit that day. Except this time you’re actually alive for me to do it.”

Oliver looked toward Felicity giving her an accusing look. “You told her?”

Felicity looks as though she’s just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Yes,” she says weakly. “But in my defense, I _strictly_ told her not to hurt you,” She says giving Laurel an evil stare.

“Well she didn’t listen,” Oliver says.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” Connor asks suddenly among all of the commotion looking up at Laurel.

Laurel looks toward him, not having noticed him there before. She realized that he must be the son Felicity was talking about. She wanted nothing more than to believe that it was a mix up or just a lie some made up. But looking at the little boy in front of her made all her doubts go away. There was no way it was a mix up. The boy looked too much like Oliver. Oliver really had cheated on her more than once.

Laurel walks towards him and leans over and smiles. “Maybe later, okay sweaty?”

Connor nods. A few seconds later Bethany was behind him, already gotten a hold of Mia in her arms. She must have run toward them after witnessing what had just occurred. She takes a glance towards Felicity who only nods, already knowing what that look was asking. “Take them inside,” Felicity confirms with words.

Beth nods. “Come on Connor,” she says putting her hand on his shoulder so he would notice her. “Let’s go. Ricardo made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

“But I want to learn how to -” before he can finish his sentence Beth gives him a look that makes him immediately stop talking and get off his scooter.

“Fine,” he says pouting just a little.

“We’ll be there in a few seconds,” Felicity reassures them as they begin to walk away.

After they’re out of hearing distance, Oliver wipes blood off of his nose and looks toward Laurel. He gives her a look that she remembered so well from when they were still together. But this time was different. This time the look felt sincere. She knew it was years past too late to be angry, but she still couldn’t help but still feel so betrayed.

“I was going to tell you,” he finally says, “But someone beat me to it,” he says glances back at Felicity.

“Don’t get mad at Felicity for this,” she says in a defensive manner. “You were _never_ going to tell me Oliver. Well, not if there wasn’t proof, anyway.”

Oliver doesn’t say anything in return because he knew she was only telling the truth. He knew it, everyone knew it. Honestly and telling the truth were not one of his best features. He knew he most likely would have taken that secret to his grave.

Laurel crosses her arms, shaking her head. “Damn it Oliver!” She gives a bitter chuckle. “What else did you keep from me? What else did you do behind my back while we were still together?”

He only stays silent once more. There were no excuses for what his younger self did. He knew that very well and no amount of apologizes would ever make up for the pain he’s caused her.

“Not only did you cheat on me with my very own baby sister,” she says as a matter-of-fact, “you even managed to conceive a child with yet another girl you cheated on me with,” she spits out like poison.

She takes a deep breath. “Why is it that you can’t just ever tell me these things? Why do I always have to find out through someone besides you or after someone dies.”

Oliver turns to look at Felicity. “Can you give us a minute?” He asks.

A look of confusion crosses her face. Why would he want to be alone with a really angry Laurel?

“Please,” he adds.

Felicity nods and looks towards Ted, who was already making his way toward her. “Let’s go get some of those snacks too,” he says smiling at her.

Felicity smiles back at him and without taking another look back she and he began to walk toward the mansion together.

“I _was_ going to tell you,” Oliver finally said after a few long seconds. “I wanted to tell you but I just didn’t know how.”

“Oliver,” Laurel begins and then suddenly even the soft gust of wind around them becomes silent, “Did you really ever honestly love me?” She asks, looking as though she has just been stabbed through the chest. She had to ask, even now.

Oliver couldn’t help but feel as though he too had been stabbed. It pained him to cause her all the doubt. He looked at her. “Of course I did,” he says honestly. “I thought about you every day I was on the island. Coming home to you was one of the very few things that kept me fighting.”

It looks as though Laurel’s anger slowly leaves her body. “If that’s true how could you do all the things you did, knowing how much it would hurt me?”

“Because I was scared.”

“Of what?” She asks, shock filing her voice. “Of feeling something? Of growing up?”

“Yes,” he says simply. “At the time, you were looking for something serious. I felt like we were moving too fast. I wasn’t ready to grow up. Not then, anyway.”

He gives a huff of air and shakes his head. It was only now that he had admitted it out loud that he understood so perfectly well why Sandra kept his own son a secret from him. Now Laurel did too.

“So by the time you finally got back you were mature enough to realize that after everything that happened…there was no going back,” she says for him.

Oliver slowly nods his head. “Laurel, there is nothing I can do now or say to make up for everything I put you through. All I can say is…I’m sorry for everything.”

Suddenly a half smile appears on her face. “We’re both retired vigilantes. I’m married and you’re engaged and you already have two children…never in a million years would I have ever thought this is where we would be in this point in our lives.”

“Life takes unexpected turns,” Oliver says suddenly. They both stay silent, no doubt remembering the loss of Sara and Tommy.

“That it does,” she says almost to herself. She walks toward him but stops so that they’re standing shoulder to shoulder. She turns her face to look at him. “Come on,” she says moving her head towards the mansion. “Let’s get some ice on that ugly nose of your.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t break it,” he says turning around. They begin to walk toward the mansion.

“If I wanted to break it, I would have,” she tells him, no hint of joking in her voice, “but I figured you already had a lot going on right now. I didn’t think you needed to add a hospital bill to that too.”

Oliver laughs. “Yeah right,” he says, “like I’d go to the ER for a broken nose.”

They walk side by side into the mansion, everything back to normal between them, or as normal as they could get.

**Welp? What did you guys think? Please leave reviews. I love to hear your guys opinions no matter what. Until next time.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:  I’m so sorry to everyone still interested in this story. You guys have had to wait over a year for this update! Sorry life gets in the way sometimes but I promised I wouldn’t give up on this piece of work and I like to keep my promises :)**

Oliver and Laurel walk inside to the kitchen to find Mia sitting on Felicity's lap. Ted was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s my husband?” Laurel asks, a smile forming on her face as she emphasis the last word. She was basking in the joy of being about to call Ted ‘husband’.

“Conner wanted to show him some of his new toys so he took him upstairs,” Felicity informs them.

Laurel walks over to Felicity. “May I?” She asks looking at Felicity and then at Mia.

“You may,” Felicity smiles.

“He looks just like you did when you were his age, Oliver,” Laurel says, looking at him, as she picks up Mia from Felicity’s lap.

“Really?” Oliver says, sounding a little proud.

Laurel sits down across the table from Felicity. Mia was too distracted by Laurel’s necklaces to pay attention to anything else.

“Yes. Really.”

Oliver takes a seat in the chair on the long side between them. The room falls silent. There were still so many questions.

“What happened to them?” Laurel finally asks, filling the silence.

Oliver clears his throat. “Car crash,” he says almost a whisper as if still not quite believing it.

“But Charlotte thinks it wasn’t an accident,” Felicity adds.

“Charlotte?” Laurel looks confused.

“Long story,” Felicity says with a flip of the wrist and Laurel nods.

“Well, why does this Charlotte person think it really wasn’t an accident?”

“Someone was after Adam, Sandra’s husband but no one knows why yet,” Oliver tells her.

Laurel nods and then turns her attention toward Mia and makes a funny face at her, deciding that it was best to stop talking about the topic. “So this is the famous Mia Dearden?”

“The one and only,” Felicity smiles.

“When were you two able to finally bring her home?”

“Two days ago.” Oliver tells her. “A day before Connor arrived.”

Laurel has a look of surprise. “Wow...that’s...that’s a lot to take in just two days.”

“It was,” Oliver says. “It is.”

“I think we can handle it. I know we can,” Felicity tells them. She smiles at Oliver. A part of her felt that he still needed reassurance she wouldn’t leave him.

Before Laurel can say anything laughter is filling the kitchen as Ted and Connor walk in. Connor jumps off from Teds back, having enjoyed the piggy back ride down.

 “There you are,” Laurel says looking towards Ted. After making sure Connor was safely on the floor, he makes his way to her and gives her a quick kiss on the lips. He looks down at Mia and smiles, pinching one of her cheeks softly in the process. He stands behind her chair and rest his hands on either of her shoulders.

“I guess I didn’t really have the chance to say hello back there,” he says. He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, clearly still trying to read the atmosphere.

“We’re good now.” Laurel looks up at him. He instantly relaxes his muscles.

Connor quickly makes his way toward Laurel before Ted can say anything. He looks up at her with his big blue eyes that have the ability to instantly make anyone’s heart melt.

 “Can you teach me how to do that thing now?” He asks excitedly.

Laurel glances up at Oliver and Felicity who were silently watching, hiding a smile, seeing how she would handle the situation. She leans her head a little toward him so it’s softly resting on Mia’s who was also staring at Connor.

“When I said I might teach you it later I meant when you were older. You’re still too young to need to know how to do that. I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. It was very wrong of me and I already even apologized to your dad about it,” Laurel says nicely leaving no room for question.

She realizes what she says and glances at Oliver. Was it okay to refer to him as that? Was it too soon? Connor stares at him too.

Connor turns back to laurel and shrugs. “Okay,” he says simply. “My mom used to tell me that too.”

For a few seconds a sad expression appears on his face but as quickly as it had appeared it had disappear.

“What else did your mom tell you?” Oliver asks, wanting to get to know more about how Sandra was as a mother.

Connor sits down in the empty chair across from Oliver. He thinks for a while. “She always told me how much she loved me, how much my dad loved me, how important I was to them,” he tells them. “She told me a lot of things. Some were true and some weren’t.”

“What do you mean some weren’t true?” Felicity asks confused. “What wasn’t true?”

Connor turns to her and it almost looks like he’s about to cry and it almost looks like he’s about to scream. “Like when she promised she’d come back for me, that I was only supposed to stay with Aunt Charlotte for a few days,” he says becoming more angry in each passing second. “Now I’m not even with Aunt Charlotte! I’m here!”

Connor practically runs out of the kitchen, leaving everyone in it shocked. The room falls silent, and heavy, the only noise coming from Mia.

“I better go talk to him,” Oliver says getting up.

Felicity puts her hand up to stop him. “Let me talk to him.” She begins to get up.

Oliver gives her a confused and worried look.

“Trust me,” she smiles.

He nods and sits back down at the table. They all watch her as she leaves the kitchen.

…

“Hey,” Felicity says softly as she slowly peaks her head into his room. He was sitting on the ground next to his bed, his knees up to his chest and his hands laying on them.

“I want to be alone,” he says quietly.

Felicity, ignoring his request, walks into the room, and shuts the door behind her. She sits down next to him in the same position. “I know you want to be alone but I’m not going to let you. Do you want to know why?” She asks.

He doesn’t answer.

“Because I know the last thing you really want to be is alone. You’re just too scared to say it.”

He doesn’t say anything and she can’t even tell if he had been crying or not. His eyes looked red but she didn’t think he had. He hasn’t cried since he’d gotten here. He was obviously hurt and felt betrayed and abandoned by his parents and no one understood that feeling better than her.

“Are you mad?” She finally asks him.

“Yes and no,” he says.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m mad because they left me alone. I’m never going to see them again but I know it wasn’t their fault. It was an accident, right?”

Felicity winces at the word ‘accident’. She hasn’t had time to do some research over Adam but she knew she had to and soon. She pushed that thought aide for now. She looks at him and she can’t help but think what an awful thing it must be to lose not one, but two people. “Of course it was. Your parents would never leave you on purpose. They meant it when they said they were coming back. It’s just that sometimes terrible things happen, unexplainable things.  But you’re not alone Connor, not even a little bit. You have your aunt Charlotte and Uncle Henry. You also have me and so many people you haven’t even met yet who will love you so much.”

“Really?” That gets a curious look on his face.

“Really.” Felicity smiles. “We have a big family but most of all you have Oliver who is trying really hard. He’s trying to get used to this too.”

“When I first got here I thought he looked really mean and mad all the time but then I remembered what my mom told me about not judging people on their appearance. I think that deep down he’s actually a really good person.” He looks up at her. “Right?”

She can’t help but smile. He was slowly but surely going to get to know and understand Oliver as she once had. “That is absolutely right. He’s a hard shell to crack but once you do it’s worth it.”

 

**I know this chapter was actually probably boring or not worth the wait but I did my best given that I haven't written in awhile! Once I get back in the swing of this it'll get better. As always reviews are appreciated. Thank you for reading!**


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